SAFETY AND SECURITY OF PEACE CORPS
VOLUNTEERS
HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
MARCH 24, 2004
Serial No. 108–102
Printed for the use of the Committee on International Relations
(
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COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
HENRY J. HYDE, Illinois, Chairman
JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa
TOM LANTOS, California
DOUG BEREUTER, Nebraska
HOWARD L. BERMAN, California
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey,
GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York
Vice Chairman
ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American
DAN BURTON, Indiana
Samoa
ELTON GALLEGLY, California
DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida
ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey
CASS BALLENGER, North Carolina
SHERROD BROWN, Ohio
DANA ROHRABACHER, California
BRAD SHERMAN, California
EDWARD R. ROYCE, California
ROBERT WEXLER, Florida
PETER T. KING, New York
ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio
WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT, Massachusetts
AMO HOUGHTON, New York
GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
JOHN M. MCHUGH, New York
BARBARA LEE, California
ROY BLUNT, Missouri
JOSEPH CROWLEY, New York
THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado
JOSEPH M. HOEFFEL, Pennsylvania
RON PAUL, Texas
EARL BLUMENAUER, Oregon
NICK SMITH, Michigan
SHELLEY BERKLEY, Nevada
JOSEPH R. PITTS, Pennsylvania
GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, California
JEFF FLAKE, Arizona
ADAM B. SCHIFF, California
JO ANN DAVIS, Virginia
DIANE E. WATSON, California
MARK GREEN, Wisconsin
ADAM SMITH, Washington
JERRY WELLER, Illinois
BETTY MCCOLLUM, Minnesota
CHRIS BELL, Texas
MIKE PENCE, Indiana
THADDEUS G. MCCOTTER, Michigan
KATHERINE HARRIS, Florida
THOMAS E. MOONEY, SR., Staff Director/General Counsel
ROBERT R. KING, Democratic Staff Director
PETER D.R. SMITH, Professional Staff Member
LIBERTY DUNN, Staff Associate
(II)
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CONTENTS
Page
WITNESSES
The Honorable Gaddi H. Vasquez, Director, The Peace Corps ............................
Walter R. Poirier ......................................................................................................
Jeffrey Bruce, Editor, Dayton Daily News .............................................................
Jess Ford, Director, International Affairs and Trade, U.S. General Accounting
Office .....................................................................................................................
Kevin F.F. Quigley, President, National Peace Corps Association ......................
The Honorable Charles D. Smith, Inspector General, The Peace Corps .............
10
20
31
35
43
49
LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING
The Honorable Tom Lantos, a Representative in Congress from the State
of California: Material submitted for the record ...............................................
The Honorable Gaddi H. Vasquez: Prepared statement ......................................
Walter R. Poirier: GAO Report 01–970R, dated July 20, 2001, submitted
for the record ........................................................................................................
Prepared statement ..............................................................................................
Jeffrey Bruce: Prepared statement ........................................................................
Jess Ford: Prepared statement ...............................................................................
Kevin F.F. Quigley: Prepared statement ...............................................................
The Honorable Charles D. Smith: Prepared statement ........................................
6
12
23
29
33
37
45
51
APPENDIX
The Honorable Tom Lantos: Prepared statement on H.R. 4060, the Health
Safety, and Security of Peace Corps Volunteer Act of 2004 .............................
The Honorable Nick Smith, a Representative in Congress from the State
of Michigan: Prepared statement ........................................................................
The Honorable Earl Blumenauer, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Oregon: Prepared statement .................................................................
The Honorable Gaddi H. Vasquez: Responses to questions submitted for the
record by the Committee on International Relations and additional materials submitted for the record .............................................................................
63
64
64
65
(III)
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SAFETY AND SECURITY OF PEACE CORPS
VOLUNTEERS
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2004
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:36 a.m. in Room
2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Henry J. Hyde (Chairman of the Committee) presiding.
Chairman HYDE. The Committee will come to order. Good morning, and welcome to this morning’s hearing of the Committee on
International Relations.
The purpose of today’s hearing is to examine the safety and security practices of the Peace Corps. The Members of this Committee
drafted a Peace Corps bill last year that authorizes the doubling
of the Peace Corps. That measure was included in H.R. 1950,
which passed the House by a vote of 382 to 42 in July 2003. Next
week, the Committee will consider additional legislation intended
to improve the security and safety of our Peace Corps Volunteers.
Today, we are going to hear from a distinguished group of witnesses each with firsthand experience in matters of safety and security of Peace Corps Volunteers.
We come here as supporters of the Peace Corps, admirers of their
sacrifice and of the important work they do. It is for that reason
that today we wish to inquire into the adequacy of safety and security practices that will govern their assignment in dangerous places
around the world.
Instead of a lengthy opening statement, I would like to read for
you brief excerpts from three important documents on this topic
which we will explore and refer to throughout today’s hearing.
The first excerpt is from a GAO, General Accounting Office, report on Peace Corps safety and security dated July 2002:
‘‘The Peace Corps is embarking on a major expansion of its
volunteer work force during a time of heightened risk for
Americans living abroad. Providing safety and security for its
volunteers is the Peace Corps’ higher priority. Our review of
the agency’s efforts to ensure compliance with its basic safety
and security policies and guidelines show that there are cases
of uneven implementation of key elements of the safety and security framework that could pose risks to volunteers. These include uneven performance in developing safe and secure housing and worksites, responding to volunteer concerns and planning for emergencies.’’
(1)
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The second excerpt is from a recent investigative series by the
Dayton Daily News dated October 27, 2003:
‘‘Every minute of every day for more than 21⁄2 years now
Walter and Sheila Poirier have lived with a grim reality. They
may never know what happened to their son.
‘‘ ‘Our concentration is still on finding Walter,’ Sheila said.
‘He is probably not alive, but he may be.’
‘‘Long ago, their grief turned to anger, and their anger is directed squarely at the Peace Corps. They believe the agency
should have been watching more closely, and they are not
alone.
‘‘ ‘We believe that the Peace Corps severely failed their people, their volunteers, and knowing what I know there is no
way I would let my children volunteer for the Peace Corps unless there was some immediate changes and serious changes in
the Peace Corps,’ said the General Accounting Office’s Patrick
Sullivan, who spent 23 years as a U.S. Secret Service agent.
‘There is no way I would put my children or recommend to
anybody I know to put their loved ones in that situation.’
‘‘Sullivan and John Cooney went to Bolivia on behalf of the
GAO’s Office of Special Investigations to review the Peace
Corps’ handling of the case.’’
The third excerpt is from the GAO report referenced in the previous excerpt dated July 20, 2001. It reads as follows:
‘‘Both the Country Director and Deputy Country Director for
the Peace Corps in Bolivia told us, the GAO, that the Associate
Director was not keeping close enough contact with Mr.
Poirier.’’
The report also states:
‘‘The Associate Director also said that he became so busy supervising the other volunteers that Mr. Poirier ‘dropped of my
radar screen.’ He said he made no further attempt to contact
Mr. Poirier.’’
The GAO report is summarized in the following statement, and
I quote:
‘‘The Peace Corps failed to properly supervise Mr. Poirier
and lost track of him.’’
The purpose of today’s hearing is to understand the Peace
Corps’s efforts to develop and ensure compliance with basic safety
and security policies for Peace Corps Volunteers. Today’s hearing
will provide Members with necessary background information on
the problems that have existed in recent years and as a case study
will examine the specific problems and management failures that
led to and followed the disappearance of a volunteer in Bolivia,
Walter J. Poirier.
The hearing will provide Members with an opportunity to understand the policy and organizational changes made within the Peace
Corps over the past 2 years toward the goal of improving safety
and security of volunteers.
This hearing will also provide Members with the context for the
additional legislation to be considered next week, the Peace Corps
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3
Safety and Security Act of 2004. That bill will create a more independent Inspector General, will establish the position of Ombudsman of the Peace Corps, and will statutorily create the Office of
Safety and Security.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Hyde follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE HENRY J. HYDE, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, AND CHAIRMAN, COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Good morning, and welcome to this morning’s hearing of the Committee on International Relations. The purpose of today’s hearing is to examine the safety and security practices of the Peace Corps. The members of this Committee crafted a Peace
Corps bill last year that authorizes the doubling of the Peace Corps. That measure
was included in H.R. 1950, which passed the House by a vote of 382 to 42 in July,
2003. Next week, the Committee will consider additional legislation intended to improve safety and security of our Peace Corps volunteers. Today, we will hear from
a distinguished group of witnesses, each with firsthand experience in matters of
safety and security of Peace Corps volunteers.
We come here as supporters of the Peace Corps; admirers of their sacrifice and
of the important work they do. It is for that reason that today we wish to inquire
into the adequacy of safety and security practices that will govern their assignment
in dangerous places around the world.
Instead of a lengthy opening statement, I would like to read for you brief excerpts
from three important documents on this topic, which we will explore and refer to
throughout today’s hearing.
The first excerpt is from a GAO report on Peace Corps safety and security, dated
in July 2002:
The Peace Corps is embarking on a major expansion of its volunteer workforce
during a time of heightened risk for Americans living abroad. Providing safety
and security for its volunteers is the Peace Corps’ highest priority. Our review
of the agency’s efforts to ensure compliance with its basic safety and security
policies and guidelines shows that there are cases of uneven implementation of
key elements of the safety and security framework that could pose risks to volunteers. These include uneven performance in developing safe and secure housing
and work sites, responding to volunteer concerns, and planning for emergencies.
The second excerpt is from a recent investigative series by the Dayton Daily
News, dated October 27, 2003:
Every minute of every day for more than two and a half years now, Walter
and Sheila Poirier have lived with a grim reality: They may never know what
happened to their son.
‘‘Our concentration is still on finding Walter,’’ Sheila said. ‘‘He’s probably not
alive, but he may be alive.’’
Long ago, their grief turned to anger, and their anger is directed squarely at
the Peace Corps. They believe the agency should have been watching more closely.
And they’re not alone.
‘‘We believe that the Peace Corps severely failed their people, their volunteers,
and knowing what I know, there is no way I would let my children volunteer
for the Peace Corps unless there was some immediate changes and serious
changes in the Peace Corps,’’ said the General Accounting Office’s Patrick Sullivan, who spent 23 years as a U.S. Secret Service special agent. ‘‘There’s no way
I’d put my children or recommend to anybody I know to put their loved ones in
that situation.’’[Endquote]
Sullivan and John Cooney went to Bolivia on behalf of the GAO’s Office of
Special Investigations to review the Peace Corps’ handling of the case.
The third excerpt is from the GAO report referenced in the previous excerpt,
dated July 20, 2001. It reads as follows:
Both the Country Director and Deputy Country Director for the Peace Corps
in Bolivia told us [the GAO] that the Associate Director was not keeping close
enough contact with Mr. Poirier.
The report also states:
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The Associate Director also said that he became so busy supervising the other
volunteers that Mr. Poirier ‘‘dropped off my radar screen.’’ He said he made no
further attempt to contact Mr. Poirier.
The GAO report is summarized in the following statement:
The Peace Corps failed to properly supervise Mr. Poirier and lost track of him.
The purpose of today’s hearing is to understand the Peace Corps’ efforts to develop and ensure compliance with basic safety and security policies for Peace Corps
volunteers. Today’s hearing will provide members with necessary background information on the problems that have existed in recent years, and, as a case study, will
examine the specific problems and management failures that led to and followed the
disappearance of a volunteer in Bolivia, Walter J. Poirier.
The hearing will provide members with an opportunity to understand the policy
and organizational changes made within the Peace Corps over the past two years
toward the goal of improving safety and security of volunteers. The hearing will also
provide members with the context for the additional legislation to be considered
next week, the ‘‘Peace Corps Safety and Security Act of 2004’’. That bill will create
a more independent Inspector General, will establish the position of ‘‘Ombudsman’’
of the Peace Corps, and will statutorily create the Office of Safety and Security.
I look forward to today’s hearing, and I now recognize my friend and colleague,
the distinguished ranking member from California, Tom Lantos.
Chairman HYDE. I look forward to today’s hearing, and I now am
pleased to yield to my friend and colleague, the distinguished
Ranking Member from California, Tom Lantos.
Mr. LANTOS. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I want to
thank you for calling this important hearing on the safety and security of Peace Corps Volunteers.
As these generous hearted volunteers continue to serve our country as ambassadors of hope and renewal to villages and towns
across the globe, their well being must continue to be one of our
highest priorities.
Mr. Chairman, in 1961, President John Kennedy established the
Peace Corps to draw from an immense reservoir of men and women
who were anxious to dedicate their time and toil to the cause of
both peace and human progress.
Volunteers were expected to transcend the political divides of
their day and work in true fellowship with local communities to
support their development. In the process, this first generation of
volunteers helped foster a greater understanding of American values and our culture abroad, as well as a better appreciation of
other cultures and peoples by American citizens.
This month we celebrate the 43rd year of distinguished service
by Peace Corps Volunteers in meeting these goals. Since the Peace
Corps was established, more than 170,000 volunteers worked on
behalf of humanity and our nation in 137 countries. They have successfully accomplished an enormous array of important projects,
not the least of which is the aid the Peace Corps Volunteers lent
to a young man named Alejandro Toledo.
As one of 16 children, Toledo was raised in the struggling port
village of Chimbote, Peru, by a family of extremely modest means.
At age 16, with the help of Peace Corps Volunteers, Toledo secured
a 1-year scholarship to study economics at the University of San
Francisco in my district.
He later continued his education at Stanford, worked for an
international organization and eventually was elected President of
Peru, the first of its indigenous people to lead that country. Last
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year, President Toledo welcomed the Peace Corps back to Peru
after a 27 year absence.
Many volunteers, like the ones who helped give the current
President of Peru a running start in life, are from my home state
of California. Of the 170,000 Peace Corps Volunteers since 1961,
some 25,000 were from the State of California. Today, 15 of my
constituents in my congressional district are serving as Peace
Corps Volunteers in Latin America, Europe, Africa, the Middle
East and Asia.
I ask unanimous consent, Mr. Chairman, that these 15 names,
the countries where they serve and the dates of service be entered
into the record, and I applaud all of them for their dedication and
commitment.
Chairman HYDE. Without objection. So ordered.
[The information referred to follows:]
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7
Mr. LANTOS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, the horrific attacks of September 11, 2001, transformed how Americans view the world. The terrorist attacks also
exposed many in our country to other people’s perceptions or
misperceptions about both our nation and our values.
I have stated on numerous previous occasions before this Committee my belief that we have been neglecting our many traditional
public diplomacy efforts. In addition to repairing the damage to
public diplomacy instruments at the State Department, I believe
that the expansion of the Peace Corps, particularly in predominantly Muslim countries, can go a long way to helping the people
of other nations achieve a better understanding of the United
States.
Mr. Chairman, as President Kennedy anticipated, life in the
Peace Corps is not easy. Volunteers often live in simple huts with
no electricity or running water and the ever present possibility of
unwelcome guests like cobras and scorpions.
They receive only a small stipend to meet their basic needs during their service abroad and a modest readjustment allowance after
their duty is completed. Many times, volunteers are posted in communities where the nearest American is hours or days away.
Underlying these hardships is the belief that Americans and foreign people best understand one another when they work together
on the same projects, share the same food and speak the same language.
Although life in the Peace Corps is not easy, it at least should
be made safe. Mr. Chairman, I am profoundly disturbed by the
most recent safety of the volunteers report in which incidents of reported minor sexual assaults against Peace Corps Volunteers
around the world increased by 275 percent since 1995.
I am equally concerned about the plans of the agency to expand
its programming in certain regions, most notably the inter American and Pacific region, where incidents of major sexual assaults
were 63 percent higher than in Africa, Europe or Asia over the
same 6-year period.
Although Latin America should be a top priority for receiving
United States development assistance. We must make sure that we
do not place more volunteers into high risk areas without first augmenting safety and security precautions for them.
I am also concerned, Mr. Chairman, about reports that the current leadership of the Office of Medical Services may be treating
volunteers with questionable medical treatment and hamstringing
the ability of in-country Peace Corps medical officers to provide the
best possible standard of care to volunteers by slashing their budgets for vital medications and vaccines.
Mr. Chairman, the problems confronting us today around the
world are towering, but they are neither unprecedented nor insurmountable. Through the dedication, sacrifice and self-reliance of
Peace Corps Volunteers, our country is better able to meet these
challenges
I salute them for their service and pledge to ensure that they
have the support they need to continue to accomplish the idealistic
goals set before them over 4 decades ago.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
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Chairman HYDE. Thank you, Mr. Lantos.
The Chair will entertain brief opening statements if there are
any. Mr. Royce, do you have one? Mr. Bell?
Mr. BELL. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Today’s hearing is of special significance. Congresswoman McCollum and I had the opportunity to visit with Peace Corps representatives on this very issue
of security when we were in Jordan last fall.
Also, a member of my staff, Andy Oler, who is with us today, is
a recently returned Peace Corps Volunteer who served in Burkina
Faso, the third poorest country in the world, according to the 2003
United Nations human development report. He found the work so
fulfilling that he extended for a 3rd year. Luckily, Andy served his
time without incident and returned safely home. He followed safety
recommendations and never felt in danger.
While Andy and most other volunteers are never harmed during
their service, serious incidents do occur, as we have heard here
today. As its first priority, Peace Corps must improve its safety and
security policies, especially regarding volunteer monitoring, security training and data collection.
This being said, we must not hamper volunteers’ ability to do
their work by imposing heavy security restrictions. Frequently,
American Embassy workers live behind locked gates to protect
their safety. Peace Corps Volunteers could not be successful in such
a restrictive security environment, I am sure all of you would
agree.
A primary component of a Peace Corps Volunteer’s work is cultural integration and understanding achieved through community
immersion. Like everyone at this hearing, I am concerned for the
volunteers who are in the field and for the people whose stories
brought about this hearing, but how much can we increase Peace
Corps security presence without compromising the volunteers’ work
and the agency’s mission? That is the question I hope we can perhaps find some answers to here today.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Chairman, if I could?
Chairman HYDE. Yes. Mr. Royce?
Mr. ROYCE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will make an opening
statement.
I chair the Africa Subcommittee, and in January of last year I
had a chance to spend time with several volunteers in Madagascar.
I know the people of Madagascar appreciated their work. As a
group, they were not up to full force there because, frankly, they
had been pulled out of the country when political turmoil hit Madagascar during a very contentious political time when elections were
scheduled in country.
These particular individuals had made the decision, knowing the
dangers, to return to Madagascar after there was more stability.
The job of the Peace Corps Volunteer is inherently dangerous. It
always has been dangerous. Volunteers go to very difficult places
in very remote locales.
In the post 9/11 world, unfortunately, the challenges of safety are
only growing, but I do not think anyone is suggesting that we recoil. On the contrary, now more than ever, we should be doing
more. I think the President recognizes this. I think that is the vi-
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9
sion that he has set out to expand the Peace Corps, to double the
size.
As Director Vasquez knows, personally, I would like to see the
Peace Corps return to Sierra Leone. I understand our Ambassador
to Freetown is pressing for their return. At the same time, we need
to do all we can to promote security, and that is the purpose of this
hearing.
It is my understanding that the Peace Corps is very up front
about the risks with potential volunteers these days. This hearing
will do more to advertise that risk to potential volunteers to notify
of that risk. I understand that Director Vasquez, based upon the
statements we have here, is going to state that safety is the number one priority of the Peace Corps. That is as it should be, and
it is our responsibility as a Committee here with oversight to make
certain that safety is the number one responsibility for the Peace
Corps.
Mr. Chairman, I thank you for holding this hearing.
Chairman HYDE. Thank you, Mr. Royce.
Ms. McCollum?
Ms. MCCOLLUM. Thank you. I would like to welcome the witnesses this morning.
Chairman Hyde, thank you for holding this hearing and giving
the Committee an opportunity to ensure that the thousands of
Americans who serve our country as Peace Corps Volunteers in distant lands are safe, healthy and successful in their service.
This means the Peace Corps staff in Washington, as well as
country staff, have the resources and the tools they need to keep
the volunteers safe. Peace Corps is truly a gift that the American
people give to the world, and I am a big fan of your agency, Mr.
Director.
I have visited Peace Corps staff and volunteers in South Africa,
as well as recruiting staff and return volunteers back home in Minnesota on numerous occasions. We should all be proud of their commitment, service and sacrifice to our country and the communities
they serve, often in very, very challenging circumstances. One of
my staff is very proud that his 67-year-old grandmother recently
arrived in Botswana to work on an HIV/AIDS project as a Peace
Corps Volunteer.
Let me say once again that I strongly support the President’s
proposal to double the number of Peace Corps Volunteers, and I
hope Congress will give Peace Corps the resources it needs to help
meet the President’s goal, and that also means the resources to
keep volunteers safe and healthy.
Thank you.
Chairman HYDE. Thank you, Ms. McCollum.
The gentleman from New York, Mr. Houghton? No statement.
Mr. Weller? No statement.
Our first witness, Mr. Gaddi Vasquez, is a graduate of the University of Redlands, and he began his 22 year career in public service as a police officer in Orange, California.
He served as an appointee to former California Governors Pete
Wilson and George Deukmejian and was appointed by former
President George H. W. Bush to Federal commissions. He was
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10
nominated by President George W. Bush to serve as Director of the
Peace Corps, and we welcome Mr. Vasquez.
We are honored to have you appear before the Committee today.
If you would proceed with a 5-minute, give or take, summary of
your statement? Your full statement will be made a part of the
record.
Then at the conclusion of your statement if you would make
yourself comfortable, and we will have a second panel, and then
after the second panel has testified if you would return to the table,
we will then have questions. That way we can make sure everybody gets a chance to ask a question, if you do not mind.
Thank you. Please proceed with your statement.
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE GADDI H. VASQUEZ,
DIRECTOR, THE PEACE CORPS
Mr. VASQUEZ. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will be providing you
today with——
Chairman HYDE. Is your microphone on?
Mr. VASQUEZ. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will be providing you
today with an abbreviated version of my testimony, and I would
like to submit the full written version with some additional material for the record.
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, I am pleased to
appear before your Committee today, and I appreciate the opportunity to present an overview of the current state of the Peace
Corps and the many accomplishments which we, as an agency,
have achieved since my arrival in February 2002.
Mr. Chairman, I also appreciate the ongoing support that you
and this Committee have shown for the Peace Corps. While I understand that the purpose of today’s hearing is to discuss the safety
and security framework that has been designed to protect Peace
Corps Volunteers, let me begin with some general comments about
the Peace Corps and our goals.
Over 170,000 Americans have served as Peace Corps Volunteers
since 1961. The volunteers have helped dispel misconceptions about
Americans, assisted in fostering positive relationships with host
country nationals, promoted sustainable development, and returned
back home with messages about life overseas, the people they have
served and the cultures they have experienced.
The core values of the Peace Corps and the grassroots work that
President John F. Kennedy envisioned when he established the
Peace Corps remain relevant, vital and strong.
It has been an exciting time at this agency as we continue to
carry out President Bush’s call to public service and his goal to increase the number of Peace Corps Volunteers serving in the field.
However, since the amounts provided in the appropriations process
for the past 2 years have fallen significantly short of those needed
to meet the goal of doubling the number of volunteers, we are pursuing the strongest growth possible within the constraints of our
resources while preserving the quality of the Peace Corps Volunteer experience and focusing on safety and security.
I am happy to report that in September 2003, the Peace Corps
achieved a 28 year high with 7,533 volunteers working in the areas
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of agriculture, business development, education, the environment,
health and HIV/AIDS, and youth development.
I will now move to the important issue of volunteer safety. I will
start by reaffirming that the safety and security of each volunteer
is the agency’s top priority. While the Peace Corps will never be
able to issue an absolute guarantee, we remain committed to delivering and developing optimum conditions for a safe and fulfilling
experience for every Peace Corps Volunteer.
Safety and security issues are fully integrated in all aspects of
volunteer recruitment, training and service with an emphasis on
volunteers taking personal responsibility at all times and integrating into communities. Information provided throughout the recruitment and application process includes key messages that
being a volunteer involves risks, the volunteers can and are expected to adopt safe lifestyles, and that the Peace Corps has an effective safety support system in place.
Since taking office in February 2002, I am always mindful of the
new security environment that September 11 placed on overseas
organizations like the Peace Corps. Based on my personal experience as a former public safety official and aided by suggestions of
others in the agency and recommendations from the GAO, the
Peace Corps has taken the initiative to create and implement a
number of safety enhancements.
In 2002, I approved a reorganization that created a new Office
of Safety and Security and increased by 80 the number of full-time
safety and security staff, of which 95 percent are deployed in the
field. The staff includes a new associate director for safety and security, a chief compliance officer, a research psychologist, nine regionally based safety and security officers and 71 safety and security coordinators, one at each Peace Corps post.
It is also vital that volunteers know how to handle emergency
situations, whether it is one volunteer in an accident or all volunteers in one country who need to be evacuated. As you may know,
we recently suspended our program in Haiti due to the civil unrest.
This has been the sixth successful evacuation during my tenure as
director.
Whether it is civil unrest, war or the outbreak of SARS, the
Peace Corps is diligent in monitoring the safety and security at
each post and will not hesitate to take action should the need arise
to move our volunteers out of harm’s way.
While establishing new training procedures, expanding staff resources and ensuring compliance are important, the ultimate evaluation should be measured by results. During the past 2 years, the
Peace Corps has experienced a significant drop in volunteer deaths,
major sexual assaults and minor assaults. For example, the rate of
serious sexual assault events is down 1⁄3 since 1997.
However, in the unfortunate situation when a violent crime
against a volunteer does occur, the Peace Corps has mechanisms
in place to assist the volunteer in every way possible.
Last October, I issued a new Peace Corps protocol on violent
crimes against volunteers which helped clarify the existing duties
of the Inspector General when a volunteer is the victim of a crime.
It is important to note that the Peace Corps maintains a healthy
working relationship with the Office of the Inspector General. We
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take that report very seriously in the field and at headquarters,
and our chief compliance officer checks to ensure that we appropriately follow up on their recommendations.
As you may know, the Peace Corps is a unique Federal agency
in that most employees are limited to serving the agency for 5
years. Recently, Congress gave the Peace Corps authority to exempt certain positions associated with safety and security from the
5-year rule. I have designated our first group of 23 exempt positions of which 19 are in our newly reorganized Office of Safety and
Security.
Mr. Chairman, in conclusion, our agency has accomplished a
great deal over the past 24 months in both safety and security and
the growth of our programs. I am grateful to you and Members of
the Committee for your continued support of the Peace Corps mission.
I believe that the Peace Corps is well positioned to safely, and
I emphasize safely, achieve expansion and build upon the successes
of the past 43 years.
Mr. Chairman, I thank you for this opportunity.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Vasquez follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT
OF THE
HONORABLE GADDI H. VASQUEZ, DIRECTOR, THE
PEACE CORPS
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:
I am pleased to appear before your Committee today. I appreciate the opportunity
to present an overview of the current state of the Peace Corps and the many accomplishments, which we, as an agency, have achieved since my arrival in February
2002. Mr. Chairman, I also appreciate the on-going support that you and many
Members of this Committee have shown for the Peace Corps, and I would be remiss
if I did not take a moment to encourage Members of the Committee to visit Peace
Corps Volunteers should you travel to any of the 71 countries in which we operate.
Seeing the Volunteers firsthand can give you a heightened appreciation for the remarkable service our American men and women perform overseas. Whether teaching schoolchildren in Kazakhstan how to use the Internet, or assisting a community
in Namibia to build a solar-powered oven, seeing the Volunteers in action makes
you proud of these Americans who are serving their country in nations around the
world. If you are traveling to a country in which the Peace Corps has a program,
please let us know and we will make every effort to connect you with a Volunteer.
After meeting them, I know you will share in our enthusiasm to ensure the Peace
Corps continues as a world-class organization, promoting world peace and friendship
abroad.
While I understand the purpose of today’s hearing is to discuss the safety and security framework that has been designed to protect Peace Corps Volunteers, let me
begin with some general comments about the Peace Corps and our goals. Earlier
this month, we celebrated the Peace Corps’ 43rd anniversary. We have learned valuable lessons over the last 43 years. Over 170,000 Americans have served as Peace
Corps Volunteers. The Volunteers have helped dispel misconceptions about Americans, assisted in fostering positive relationships with host country nationals, promoted sustainable development, and returned back home with messages about life
overseas, the people they have served, and the cultures they have experienced. The
core values of the Peace Corps and the grassroots work that President John F. Kennedy envisioned when he signed the Executive Order establishing the Peace Corps
on March 1, 1961, remain relevant, vital, and strong.
These are the Peace Corps goals that we continue to promote:
• to help the people of interested countries and areas in meeting their need for
trained men and women;
• to help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served; and
• to bring that information back home to help promote a better understanding
of other peoples on the part of Americans.
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This past year has brought many accomplishments. It has been an exciting time
at the agency as we continue to carry out President Bush’s call to public service and
his goal to increase the number of Peace Corps Volunteers serving in the field. Mr.
Chairman, the Peace Corps is pleased to be on a pathway for growth. However,
since the amounts provided in the appropriations process for the past two years
have fallen significantly short of that needed to meet the goal of doubling the number of Volunteers, we are pursuing the strongest growth possible within the constraints of our resources.
Yet, I am happy to report that in September 2003, the Peace Corps achieved a
28-year high with 7,533 Volunteers working in 71 countries in the areas of agriculture, business development, education, the environment, health and HIV/AIDS
education and prevention, and youth development.
By knowing local cultures and communicating in local languages, the Peace Corps
continues to be actively engaged in activities addressing HIV/AIDS, at the grassroots level, providing over two million service hours a year. Fighting the ravages
of this disease is paramount to the survival of people across the globe, and important to this agency. All Volunteers who serve in our 26 African nations—regardless
of their program sector—are trained to provide HIV/AIDS prevention and education.
In fiscal year 2003, for example, we re-entered the countries of Botswana and Swaziland exclusively to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic. We are also collaborating with
the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator to continue our work in this arena and
seeking to assist in meeting the President’s challenge to provide treatment to 2 million HIV-infected people; prevent 7 million new infections; and, offer care to 10 million people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS, including orphans and vulnerable
children.
In addition, Peace Corps Volunteers remain committed to serving in countries
with predominantly Muslim populations. This has been true since the Peace Corps’
inception in 1961. Currently, almost 20% percent of our Volunteers are serving in
nations with predominately Muslim populations in West and North Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and Central Asia. Three out of four of our new country entries
in 2003 were in predominately Muslim countries—Albania, Azerbaijan, and Chad—
bringing our total program involvement from 14 nations in 2002 to 17 in 2004. The
Peace Corps’ mission in these regions matches our efforts worldwide and continues
to be important. Host communities are exposed to positive and personal images of
Americans, and returning Volunteers share their new understanding of these different cultures with friends and family in the United States.
NEW INITIATIVES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Last fall, we launched a new national recruiting campaign to attract new Volunteers and increase diversity. The campaign theme—‘‘Life is calling. How far will you
go?’’—was designed to touch the hearts, enlighten the minds, and inspire the spirits
of the next wave of Peace Corps Volunteers. It included new recruiting materials,
a re-designed website, updated recruitment videos, and new public service announcements. The response has been tremendous. Over the past year, Volunteer applications have increased by nearly 12 percent and, since the launch of the re-designed website, online inquiries are up 44 percent. Applications now completed online have jumped to 81 percent of all applications submitted; this is an increase
from 42 percent in 2001. Applications from Latinos, African-Americans, Native
Americans, and Asian-Americans are also up by 10 percent. The bottom line is that
Americans want to serve and there are developing countries that want and need not
only the skills of our citizens, but also want to build relationships that help further
world peace and friendship.
In February of this year, the Peace Corps and the American Association of Community Colleges unveiled a new, groundbreaking recruitment initiative that will increase awareness of opportunities for specially trained Americans to share their
skills internationally. It will allow those with the experience and occupational and
technical skills—such as licensed nurses and trained information technology experts—to respond to the critical needs of countries where Peace Corps Volunteers
serve. The rollout was launched in four different regions of the United States—
Washington D.C., Colorado, California, and Minnesota—and has been met with an
overwhelming positive response. In fact, many community colleges nationwide are
expanding their international programs and view Peace Corps service as a tremendous opportunity to enhance their graduates’ professional careers.
On November 12, 2003, I signed an historic agreement that will lead to Peace
Corps Volunteers serving in Mexico for the first time. This innovative partnership
will allow Volunteers to join along side the National Council on Science and Technology (CONACYT) of Mexico and work in the areas of information technology,
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small business development, and science and technology. The Peace Corps country
director has been selected and the first group of 15 to 20 Volunteers will arrive in
Mexico this fall.
TRAVEL TO PEACE CORPS COUNTRIES
Over the past year, I have also had the privilege to travel to 12 different Peace
Corps countries from Central America, to Africa, Eastern Europe, and the Pacific.
During each visit, I met with Volunteers, host government officials, and representatives of our U.S. missions abroad. The support and enthusiasm I have received from
each of these groups remains very high. In Fiji, for example, I was approached by
a man in his mid-thirties, asking if I was the Peace Corps Director. The man stated
that he had recognized me from the news the night before and was very excited that
Peace Corps had returned to Fiji. He went on to explain that as a young boy he
was taught by Peace Corps Volunteers and has never forgotten them. This type of
story is repeated to me over and over throughout my travels. The Peace Corps continues to leave a lasting legacy across the globe, which I experience each time I am
abroad.
While the world today is very different from 1961 when Peace Corps began, and
even more so since September 11th—the American spirit of sharing with others remains a fundamental part of our democratic society.
Just last week, I returned from Guatemala where, on behalf of the Peace Corps,
I received the Orden del Quetzal from Guatemalan President Óscar Berger
Perdomo. President Berger recognized the distinguished service that Peace Corps
Volunteers have given to the nation of Guatemala over the past 40 years. The
award acknowledged the work of our former and current Volunteers in strengthening the friendship, harmony, and good will between our two countries. The presentation reminded those in attendance of the remarkable contribution that close to
4,500 Volunteers have given to the people of Guatemala through their hard work
and enthusiasm. I was truly honored to receive this award, on behalf of the Peace
Corps, from the Guatemalan government.
VOLUNTEER SAFETY AND SECURITY: OUR OVERARCHING PRIORITY
I will now move to the important issue of Volunteer safety. I will start by reaffirming that the safety and security of each Volunteer is the agency’s top priority.
All 16 Peace Corps directors, beginning with Sargent Shriver, the agency’s first director, have placed a high priority on Volunteer safety and security. While the Peace
Corps will never be able to issue an absolute guarantee, we remain committed to
developing optimum conditions for a safe and fulfilling experience for every Peace
Corps Volunteer.
Safety and security issues are fully integrated in all aspects of Volunteer recruitment, training, and service, with an emphasis on Volunteers taking personal responsibility at all times and assimilating into communities. Information provided
throughout the recruitment and application process—to recruiters, on the recruitment website, in printed application materials, informational booklets and educational videos, during the two days of staging, and the 10 to 12 weeks of in-country
pre-service training—all includes the key messages that being a Volunteer involves
risk, that Volunteers can and are expected to adopt safe lifestyles, and that the
Peace Corps has an effective safety support system in place.
Since taking office in February 2002, I have made the safety and security of Volunteers my number one priority, and I am always mindful of the new security environment that September 11th placed on overseas organizations like the Peace
Corps.
Based on my personal experience as a former public safety official, and aided by
suggestions of others in the agency, the recommendations and findings from the
General Accounting Office’s July 2002 report on Volunteer safety, and Volunteers
in the field, the Peace Corps has taken the initiative to create and implement a
number of safety enhancements. In 2002, I approved a reorganization that created
a new Office of Safety and Security and increased by 80 people the number of fulltime safety and security staff, ninety-five percent of which are deployed overseas.
This staff, which includes a new associate director of safety and security, a chief
compliance officer, a research psychologist, nine regionally-based safety and security
officers, and a safety and security desk officer for each Peace Corps region, was restructured to better communicate, supervise, monitor and help set safety and security policy. In addition, all 71 Peace Corps posts have established a safety and security coordinator in country to oversee Volunteer safety issues in the field.
Other new initiatives in safety and security include:
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• The creation of new standard operating procedures and a new standard template for posts in developing their Emergency Action Plans;
• The implementation and compliance of new procedures for Volunteer/Trainee
Safety and Security (Manual Section 270) to measure and monitor posts’ compliance with important safety and security requirements;
• The addition of the equivalent of one full day of safety and security training
during a two-day pre-departure orientation (staging) for new trainees;
• The establishment of regular safety and security staff training on a two-year
cycle;
• An enhancement of the safety and security information message that a potential applicant receives from his or her first contact with Peace Corps—during
recruitment and throughout the application process; and
• The availability of safety and security information on the Peace Corps’
website.
The new staff, the new compliance tools, the additional documentation, and the
restructured Office of Safety and Security have all been designed to bring greater
standardization and accountability to the safety and security function.
It is important to note that the Peace Corps’ core safety and security philosophy
is one of Volunteer acceptance and integration into the local community. This necessitates the thoughtful design of viable projects, the adaptation of Volunteers into
their new sites and cultures, and the development of the Volunteers network of support. A safe and secure Volunteer is one who is working in the community on a welldesigned project. In all programming, the Peace Corps works to ensure Volunteers
have clearly defined job assignments. The technical training component of pre-service training prepares Volunteers with the essential competencies to successfully perform their work in their program sector. Eighty percent of pre-service training involves some community based training in order to simulate real-life experiences in
the workplace, home, and community. Solid training and jobs enable Volunteers to
become more quickly involved in their work, build a support network that includes
their new colleagues, and produce measurable project outcomes. These factors lead
to higher rates of Volunteer job satisfaction, which is important to Volunteer safety.
While the pre-service training contains many important technical components,
language, cultural nuances, and safety and security training are key factors in preparing a Volunteer for integration into the host community and laying the groundwork for a safe and fulfilling Volunteer experience. High quality, practical cross-cultural training is also a cornerstone of Volunteer training. At the conclusion of preservice training, ‘‘trainees’’ must pass a series of core competencies before being
sworn in as full-fledged Peace Corps Volunteers. These core competencies require
trainees to demonstrate an understanding of issues such as personal safety strategies, dealing with unwanted attention, identifying risk factors and strategies for
avoiding risk, and the importance of incident reporting. They must also be able to
communicate basic messages in the local language, exhibit an understanding of
Peace Corps policies, as well as know their roles and responsibilities in the Emergency Action Plan.
It is vital that Volunteers know how to handle emergency situations, whether it
is one Volunteer in an accident or all Volunteers in one country who need to be
evacuated. As you may know, we recently suspended our program in Haiti, due to
the civil unrest, and brought our 76 Volunteers home. This has been the sixth successful evacuation during my tenure as Director—the 10th since the fall of 2001—
impacting 908 Volunteers. Whether it is civil unrest, war, or the outbreak of SARS,
the Peace Corps is diligent in monitoring the safety and security at each post and
will not hesitate to take action should the need arise to move our Volunteers out
of harm’s way.
In the activation of an Emergency Action Plan, as well as in more isolated emergencies—such as notification of a serious illness of a family member at home—the
Peace Corps needs to be able to reach Volunteers at their sites. The Peace Corps
makes use of all available and appropriate technology to communicate with Volunteers. As technology evolves, so does the Volunteers’ use of technology. In some
countries, where cell phones are readily available, reliable, and widely used, almost
all Peace Corps Volunteers will have one. For example, almost 100 percent of the
Volunteers in South Africa have cell phones. In others, where cell phone coverage
is non-existent or sporadic at best, Volunteers make use of the best parts of the
communications infrastructure of that country. For instance, in the South Pacific Islands, cell phone systems are not available. Instead, solar-powered landlines are
available to be used by Volunteers with Iridium phones as back up with the Volunteer Leaders. Overall, posts use a combination of cell phones, landlines, solar-pow-
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ered landlines, email, beepers, radios, and message relay systems to reach Volunteers on a regular basis and in emergency situations. Furthermore, when Peace
Corps Volunteers are placed in communities around the world, they have a circle
of support around them that includes local host country nationals as well as Peace
Corps staff. As would be the case here in the United States, if a person were in
distress, friends, neighbors, colleagues, host country counterparts, and local police
are available to assist with the situation and to send and receive emergency messages.
The Peace Corps uses four key elements in establishing and maintaining its safety and security framework for Volunteers and staff: research, planning, training,
and compliance. Safety and security information is tracked and analyzed on an ongoing basis. The data analysis, conducted now by our new safety and security research psychologist, is used to enhance existing policies or develop new policies and
procedures, as needed. Our research psychologist also periodically corroborates statistical data on crimes against Volunteers with the Department of State’s Crime Division, the only division solely dedicated as an official repository of crime statistics.
After careful analysis and planning, changes are being integrated throughout the
agency. The training of Volunteers includes the most up-to-date safety and security
information available. Lastly, compliance is essential to ensure that safety and security measures are adhered to and remain a top priority over the course of time.
Each of these components helps create a framework to safeguard the well being of
Volunteers and staff, enabling them to carry out the Peace Corps’ mission.
STATISTICAL RESULTS
While establishing new training procedures, expanding staff resources and insuring compliance are important; the ultimate evaluation should be measured by results. During the past two years, the Peace Corps has experienced a significant drop
in Volunteer deaths, major sexual assaults, and minor assaults. The rate of serious
sexual assault events is down one-third since 1997. Additional statistical data
shows:
• In 2002, Peace Corps experienced a 27 percent decline in the rate of major
sexual assault events from 2001;[T1]
• In 2002, we experienced a 13 percent decrease in the rate of rape events from
2001;
• Since 1997, we have had a 36 percent decrease in the rate of rape events;
and,
• The rate of major physical assault events, with minor fluctuations, has remained steady over the last 6 years.
In addition to the statistical data, the most effective tool for gauging success is
to ask Volunteers. Every two years, the Peace Corps conducts a global survey to
measure the levels of Volunteer satisfaction with programming, safety, medical, and
other key indicators. In the most recent global volunteer survey, which had a 68
percent response rate (itself a high response rate):
• 97 percent of the respondents replied that they felt ‘‘very safe’’ to ‘‘adequately
safe’’ where they live;
• 99 percent of the respondents felt ‘‘very safe’’ to ‘‘adequately safe’’ where they
work;
• 84 percent of the volunteers felt ‘‘very safe’’ to ‘‘adequately safe’’ when they
traveled; and,
• 89 percent—overwhelmingly responded in the affirmative when asked if they
would make the same decision to join the Peace Corps.
NEW PROTOCOL ON VIOLENT CRIMES AGAINST VOLUNTEERS
Notwithstanding that Volunteers largely feel safe where they are living and working, safety incidents do occur. One assault against a Volunteer is one too many. We
take each incident very seriously and mobilize all of our resources to assist Volunteers in need. Whether the crime is that of theft of a Volunteer’s property or a major
sexual assault, the Peace Corps has trained, professional, caring staff in place to immediately respond and bring appropriate medical attention, counseling, and law enforcement to aid the Volunteer. In some situations, Volunteers are medically evacuated to the United States to receive focused care and treatment.
As I have explained, the Office of Safety and Security takes extensive measures
to ensure that the agency is effectively working to prevent crimes against Volunteers. In addition to the extensive training, this office also collects data to analyze
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crime trends to help inform policy and prevent future incidents. For instance, the
data indicates that Volunteers are most at risk for a major physical assault on a
Saturday or Sunday between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. in an urban, public area. Such risk factors are repeatedly emphasized to Volunteers during training
so they can minimize their risk of becoming a victim. Volunteers are instructed on
how to take personal responsibility to avoid risky situations and modify their behavior to protect themselves.
However, in the unfortunate situation when a violent crime against a Volunteer
does occur, the Peace Corps has mechanisms in place to assist the Volunteer in
every way possible. I have mentioned medical care and counseling. Allow me to turn
to the issue of investigation and prosecution and the role of the Peace Corps Office
of the Inspector General.
Last October, I issued a new Peace Corps ‘‘Protocol on Violent Crimes Against
Volunteers,’’ which helped clarify the existing duties of the Inspector General when
a Volunteer is a victim of a violent crime. Specifically, the Inspector General has
a coordinating role and is charged with reviewing the investigation efforts of local
officials, conducting appropriate follow-up actions to support an investigation, and
assisting in the prosecution. As appropriate, the Office of the Inspector General escorts the Volunteer or former Volunteer back for host-nation investigative and prosecutorial proceedings.
With the restructuring of the new Office of Safety and Security, and to benefit
the service to Volunteers and this agency, I was pleased to comply with the Office
of the Inspector General’s request to more formally clarify to the agency the responsibilities of the Office of Inspector General in following up on violent crimes against
Volunteers. While this protocol was simply a clarification of existing duties, I can
also report that I have consistently increased the Office of Inspector General’s budget, which has risen by 30 percent since 2002.
The Peace Corps maintains a healthy working relationship with the Office of the
Inspector General, which operates as an independent entity under the Inspector
General Act, not the Peace Corps Act. As an independent office that audits our financial functions, evaluates the management and program operations, and investigates allegations of criminal activity, the Office of the Inspector General plays an
important oversight role in evaluating and identifying areas and processes in the
agency that require immediate attention as well as long-term improvement. We take
their reports very seriously in the field and at Headquarters, and our Chief Compliance Officer checks to ensure that we appropriately follow up on their recommendations. For example, the Inspector General brought it to my attention that many
problems existed with Volunteer hostels, which often draw Volunteers away from
their sites and away from making lasting relationships with members of their community. After a thorough assessment, our Peace Corps manual was revised prohibiting the Peace Corps from providing, sanctioning, or condoning the use of hostels
unless previously approved by the Director. This decision was not met favorably by
many Volunteers, yet based on the Inspector General’s report, was in the best interest of the agency. I look forward to continuing our balanced working relationship
that values both the Office of the Inspector General’s independence and recommendations.
PROPOSED LEGISLATIVE CHANGES
I understand this Committee intends to consider legislation in the near future
that will impact the Peace Corps. One of the major strengths of the Peace Corps
Act is that it is a broad authorization, which has over the years, given ample opportunity for the agency to maintain its independence and its effectiveness. Congress
set forth broad objectives, and let the Executive Branch, in consultation with the
host government or its peoples and Congress[T2], establish programs that meet the
individual needs of each country. Few agencies have been so successfully and efficiently managed over such a long period. To maintain our effectiveness in an era
of continued growth and opportunity requires that management has the flexibility
to make decisions that best serve the agency and, most importantly, the Volunteers.
We do not believe that it is in the best interest of this agency to pursue any of the
legislative changes that we understand the committee plans to consider.
As noted above, the Peace Corps currently has a positive and independent working relationship with the Office of Inspector General, as a Designated Federal Entity under the Inspector General Act of 1978. The budget for the office has consistently increased over the last three years, with a current budget of $2.55 million in
fiscal year 2004 supporting 17 positions (the total budget for the agency is $308 million). Given the size of our agency and funding level, we find this arrangement appropriate and in line with similar agencies of our size and stature. Other agencies
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where the Inspector General is appointed by the head of an agency include AMTRAK, the Federal Reserve, EEOC, and SEC. The President appoints Inspector
Generals at large departments and agencies, such as DOD, Commerce Department,
Department of Education, HHS, and HUD.
Secondly, we find it unnecessary to permanently institute an Office of the Ombudsman. This new statutory requirement would be duplicative on many levels, diluting the authority already granted to the Office of the Inspector General. Given
the broad parameters that we understand the legislation would create for the Ombudsman, it could actually conflict with the Inspector General’s existing jurisdictional authority and could artificially interrupt standard review procedures. In addition, the agency is in the process of considering establishing an internal liaison to
facilitate post-medical services issues on behalf of returning Volunteers—an item I
will address further at the close of my remarks. Again, while the idea may have
merit, we do not see the creation of such an office as an appropriate use of our agency’s funds.
IMPACT OF THE 5-YEAR RULE
As you may know, the Peace Corps is a unique federal agency in that most employees are limited to serving the agency for five years, though we are permitted
to extend the service of a limited number of employees past the five-year mark. This
creates a dynamic, energetic atmosphere in which Peace Corps staff works hard to
have a positive impact on the agency during their five-year tenure. Recently, Congress gave the Peace Corps authority to exempt certain positions associated with
safety and security from the five-year rule. Since this is a departure from our historical employment laws and regulation, I carefully reviewed the positions and formally
designated our first group of 23 exempt positions on October 29, 2003. Nineteen of
these positions are in our newly re-organized Office of Safety and Security, which
is the Peace Corps office primarily responsible for Volunteer safety and security.
One Safety and Security Desk Officer position in each of the regional directorates
has been designated, and the position of Director of Quality Improvement in the Office of Medical Services has also been exempted. We believe that these 23 positions
are the most clear-cut and readily justifiable applications of the new authority, as
they most directly and obviously impact Volunteer safety. Additionally, the 71 safety
and security coordinator positions at post are not subject to the five-year rule limitation.
While these were the most obvious designations, I have ordered that an independent, outside expert be hired to review Peace Corps operations and make recommendations on what additional, second-tier safety-related positions should be
taken out from under the five-year rule. The review will specifically include the Office of Inspector General. At the conclusion of the expert consultant’s review, I will
make decisions about any other appropriate exemptions for personnel related to
safety and security. Because of these on-going activities to implement the five-year
rule exemption appropriately, we also do not see the necessity of further legislation
in this regard, which the Committee may soon contemplate. The first 23 positions,
which directly impact Volunteer safety and security, are now exempt and we expect
to exempt a number of second-tier positions as we proceed through this process.
VOLUNTEER CARE
Lastly, let me take a moment to address this issue and reiterate a point that is
true agency-wide: the Volunteer is at the heart of all Peace Corps programs and
policies. These are Americans who commit to serving 27 months abroad with the
hope of making a contribution and a connection to people they do not know and
often learning a language that they do not speak. Volunteers exhibit great commitment, optimism, and a ‘‘can-do’’ attitude as they work toward sustainable development at the grassroots level in emerging countries. While the circumstances in
which they work may be challenging, the personal and professional rewards can be
immeasurable. As an agency, we commit to providing the best experience possible
to our Volunteers from their first contact with Peace Corps as an applicant to their
years as a returned Peace Corps Volunteer. The Volunteers are our heart and soul
and everything this agency does revolves around them.
Thus, we constantly strive to provide support to our Volunteers and continually
seek ways to improve. During a Peace Corps Volunteer’s service in the field, the Office of Special Services plays an essential role in our Volunteer support system. For
instance, the Office of Special Services coordinates the after-hours duty system,
which provides 24 hours a day, seven days a week coverage for all Volunteers and
their families. Parents may call this office, at any time, if they need to advise their
Volunteer of a critical illness or death of a family member. The Office of Special
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Services immediately informs the Country Director so that the information is passed
on to the Volunteer as soon as possible, and arrangements can be made for special
emergency leave if appropriate. The Office of Special Services also serves as a key
link with families in the intense time of a country evacuation or the tragic event
of the death of a Volunteer. This office is also a key resource for staff and volunteers
in assisting with mental health and behavioral issues. In all of these situations, the
trained professionals who work in the Office of Special Services strive to provide
top-quality care, timely information, and supportive service to Peace Corps Volunteers and their families. Here is just a sample of one family’s experience. ‘‘When
Peace Corps called us about Beth’s accident in Zambia and her life-flight to Pretoria,
my husband, Gerry, immediately flew to South Africa to be with our daughter . . .
Through this terrible time, I was in close telephone contact with a Peace Corps
counselor in Washington, D.C. When Gerry arrived, he was met and supported
throughout by a Peace Corps medical officer . . . the Peace Corps was our advocate
in every way possible. They treated us as though we were part of their own family.’’
While Volunteers may or may not have circumstances that necessitate the involvement of the Office of Special Services during their tenure, all Peace Corps Volunteers go through a readjustment process upon completion of their service as a
Peace Corps Volunteer. For some, the transition back to life in the United States
is a return to familiarity—the filling out of paperwork and taking care of any needed medical follow-up. For others, however, moving from two years of medical care
by the Peace Corps, helping with everything from a toothache to a serious medical
issue, can present a more significant challenge.
The Post Service Unit in our Office of Medical Services facilitates post-service
medical benefits to returned Peace Corps Volunteers with service-related medical
conditions as their care is transferred to the U.S. Department of Labor. Volunteers
are considered Federal employees for the purpose of health benefits provided
through the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA) program administered
by the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs at the Department of Labor. The
FECA program provides post-service medical and compensation benefits for conditions exacerbated, accelerated, or precipitated by service in the Peace Corps.
While Peace Corps staff remains vigilant in trying to ensure that claims on behalf
of returned Peace Corps Volunteers are processed by the Department of Labor in
a timely manner, this is an area where there is room for improvement. Progress in
this area both reward former Volunteers that have already served their country and
enhance the attractiveness of the Peace Corps Volunteer program to future Volunteers. As we strive to provide our Volunteers with the best service possible, we welcome positive steps—such as a post-service liaison—which would result in reducing
delays experienced by former Volunteers as they seek resolution of their healthcare
claims.
Additionally, when a Volunteer completes his or her service, the Volunteer has
the opportunity to purchase private health insurance through CorpsCare (a program
similar to the COBRA health insurance plan). Peace Corps pays the first premium
covering the first 31 days and then the individual can continue to purchase the policy for up to 18 months. The policy is designed to cover any medical issues not related to a Volunteer’s service. After identifying a gap during which many Volunteers
who purchased CorpsCare were experiencing a lag time as they awaited a decision
on their FECA claim, Peace Corps renegotiated the CorpsCare contract to provide
former Volunteers with greater continuity of coverage. The new CorpsCare contract
went into effect on March 1, 2004, and we are especially pleased with this new arrangement, which should be a great improvement in providing care for returned
Peace Corps Volunteers.
As we seek to further Peace Corps’ three goals, the Volunteer is always the central focus. We are continually striving to improve the agency and ensure that our
Peace Corps Volunteers have meaningful, productive, and life-changing experiences
as they serve throughout the world. Over 170,000 Americans have served in the
Peace Corps, and we look forward to providing excellent care to the people of the
United States who may serve, are serving, or have returned from service. The Peace
Corps will not rest on our achievements and accomplishments. We will build on the
successes and learn from events as they occur. Not long ago, I read a message from
the parent of a volunteer who was grateful for the quality of care that was rendered
by Peace Corps staff overseas and here in the United States. The parent wrote, ‘‘As
a United States citizen, I am very proud of the Peace Corps; it is a superb organization worthy of every citizen’s support.’’
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CONCLUSION
The safety of the Volunteer is the number one priority of the Peace Corps, and
remains the primary focus of many of the research, planning, training, and compliance components of the agency. As noted above, our agency has accomplished a
great deal over the past 22 months—in both safety and security and the growth of
our programs. Our FY 2005 budget request of $401 million will support this continued growth and maintain the infrastructure we presently have in place.
In conclusion, I am grateful to you and members of the Committee for your continued support of the Peace Corps mission. September 11th is a grim reminder that
the work of past, present, and future Volunteers is more critical than ever. I believe
that the Peace Corps is well positioned to safely achieve expansion and build upon
the successes of the past 43 years.
Chairman HYDE. Thank you, Director Vasquez. If you do not remind retiring to the dugout, we will proceed with the second panel,
and then we will entertain questions.
Mr. VASQUEZ. Yes, sir.
Chairman HYDE. I would like to welcome Mr. Walter Poirier of
Lowell, Massachusetts. Mr. Poirier’s son, Walter J. Poirier, served
as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Bolivia until his disappearance after
January 2001. He is joined in the audience by Mrs. Sheila Poirier,
and we thank both of you for joining us today.
Next, Mr. Jeff Bruce is the Editor of the Dayton Daily News. Mr.
Bruce holds a Bachelor’s Degree from St. Edwards University in
Austin, Texas, and we thank you, Mr. Bruce.
Mr. Jess Ford is Director for International Affairs and Trade at
the General Accounting Office where he has worked since 1973.
Mr. Ford has a Master’s Degree in International Relations from the
Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and we welcome you, Mr.
Ford.
Mr. Kevin Quigley holds degrees from Georgetown University,
Columbia University, the University College of Dublin and
Swarthmore College. Mr. Quigley served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Thailand and is now the President of the National Peace
Corps Association, a membership organization for 200,000 former
Peace Corps staff and volunteers. We welcome you, Mr. Quigley.
Mr. Charles Smith is an alumnus of Oberlin College, receiving an
M.A. from Washington University and a J.D. from Boston University. He served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ethiopia and has
served as Inspector General of the Peace Corps since 1998. Welcome, Mr. Smith.
We are honored to have all of you appear before the Committee
today, and if we would proceed with a 5-minute summary. Your full
statement will be made a part of the record, and we will then be
rejoined by Mr. Vasquez, Director Vasquez, and we will then ask
questions of the witnesses.
Thank you for being here. Mr. Poirier, 5 minutes if possible, and
your full statement will be made a part of the record.
STATEMENT OF WALTER R. POIRIER
Mr. POIRIER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good morning, Committee Members.
The Poirier family is extremely grateful for the ability to speak
to this Committee regarding the disappearance of our son 3 years
ago in Bolivia. In those 3 years, we have been through a gamut of
emotions, and we hope no family will have to endure this again.
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To start, we believe that if we had not tried to contact our son
on March 4, 2001, after not hearing from him for over a month, the
Peace Corps would not have known he was missing for at least another week or 2.
Lack of at least a weekly report mandate, coupled with an influx
of new PCVs, the Bolivia 26, seemed to overburden the management of Bolivia Peace Corps. Trying to place too many volunteers
in an effort to boost enrollment numbers while not having enough
qualified management to deal with the situation caused the Peace
Corps to lose contact with our son.
We believe that our son actually disappeared sometime after
January 31, 2001, as no one can confirm having seen him. No
Peace Corps official can confirm seeing him after that week. Whatever happened to him, he was declared officially missing by the
Peace Corps on March 6, 2001.
When I spoke to the Bolivian country director I asked what safety protocols were in place for volunteers whose assignments were
in remote areas such as my son and what provisions were made to
enable them to communicate with Peace Corps Bolivia headquarters. She replied that there was a radio telephone within two
or three kilometers of my son’s site on the Zong Valley. The radio
telephone was actually several miles away.
When asked why these young people had no cell phones, satellite
phones or GPS devices, her response was we have been doing it
this way for 40 years. This attitude that the Peace Corps has no
need for change is a recurring theme in Peace Corps liturgy.
We believe that the Peace Corps response was too little too late.
There are numerous reasons. The aforementioned lack of oversight
is one, but, more importantly, there was a prevailing attitude of acceptance within Peace Corps management that many volunteers
take off from their assignments without leave.
One of the reasons for the phenomena of going AWOL may be
a lack of specific goals and work assignments and lack of proper
experience of the volunteer to match the work assignment. This
may result in a high rate of early separation.
When young college graduates who have just devoted 4 long
years in reaching a goal are placed in an environment where there
is no tangible success to be achieved, boredom sets in. This would
probably be the reason for the leaves.
This current generation, my son included, have been raised with
visual and tactile stimulation. They need positive feedback and reinforcement so that they feel what they are doing is having positive
results.
The push to increase the number of PCVs will only increase if
the number of generalists decreases. We believe that the Bolivian
Peace Corps management team felt that our son had taken one of
those leaves as they only sent out his immediate supervisor to find
him at first.
We are not sure, but we believe that the Embassy and the Bolivian national police were not notified until several days after we
alerted the Peace Corps. To compound the matter, the supervisor
concocted a lie, stating that our son had a meeting with his counterpart in early March 2002 at La Paz government that he missed.
This assistant country director said he lied to protect himself after
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being confronted by the FBI. We believe that the constant theme
of protecting Peace Corps’ image was a factor.
We believe that the lack of supervision, lack of meaningful assignment and lack of a proper place to live all contributed to the
loss of our son.
From the beginning, we have found Peace Corps to be more concerned with its image and protecting the aura and prestige of the
Peace Corps than any other issue. In the first meeting with personnel from Peace Corps Washington on March 26, they stated that
the search for my son had been reinvigorated. This is 20 days after
he was first declared missing.
Then the regional director, Ms. Minutillo, and a psychologist, Ms.
Gutmann, raised questions about our son’s sense of responsibility
and his work ethic. Our son had first been declared missing on
March 6, and now we were being told the search was reinvigorated.
The second visit came on April 6, 2001. At this time, Mr. Boswell, of the PC’s Inspector General’s Office, accompanied Mrs.
Gutmann, along with a person who was to do a video for Bolivian
TV.
Mr. Boswell said he was the lead investigator for my son’s case
and had just returned from Bolivia. He intimated that it was not
uncommon for PC volunteers to form relationships with the locals
in their host countries and hinted that they thought this may be
my son’s case. That idea was also hinted at by the acting Peace
Corps director at that time.
On both occasions, there was a concern that we would say or do
something that would impugn the Peace Corps’ image. This became
more apparent each time we tried to bring national attention to
Walter’s disappearance. The most glaring example occurred when
we appeared on the Today Show in April 2001 as there was a press
release already being circulated from Peace Corps as we were appearing.
Further examples of this constant spin is the outraged response
to the two reports done by the GAO, especially the one that focused
on our son, which is GAO Report 01–970R dated July 20, 2001. Respectfully, Mr. Chairman, I request that this report be placed in
the record.
Chairman HYDE. Without objection. So ordered.
[The information referred to follows:]
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28
Mr. POIRIER. We have also found that the Peace Corps can be obstructive. Simple requests for information were always met with
the response that the Freedom of Information Act came into force
for our requests and that we must follow procedure.
Now, when we did submit for the information we wanted, we
were met with denial of information and, in my perception,
stonewalling. This practice seems to be consistently used to discover information which would damage the Peace Corps image
from being obtained. Only after the Dayton Daily News sued to obtain the information and we had to sign off on it was it begrudgingly dispensed.
We also find the Peace Corps to be insensitive. Two examples.
On January 13, 2002, an invitation was sent to my home. This is
a year, almost a year after my son disappeared. We were sent an
invitation to celebrate Peace Corps Day by sharing our experiences
about our Peace Corps Volunteer’s service and our thoughts. Needless to say, we declined. In other words, we were left on a mailing
list despite all we had been through.
The second incident occurred when we were sent a letter by the
Peace Corps director informing us that Peace Corps was going to
close out our son’s service. There is no resolution to his case. It is
still an open case. Only after calls to Senator Kennedy, Kerry and
our Representative Meehan did the director reverse his decision
and agree to a 1-year extension with a review every year.
So far, another year’s extension has been granted for this year
extending our son’s service to February 2005. We feel that our son
should be kept active until there is a final outcome, whatever that
may be.
We feel that he should be listed on the Wall of Remembrance at
Peace Corps headquarters with a notation ‘‘Missing in Service’’
until such time as proof of his whereabouts and his status changes.
We know that since 9/11 there has been little, if any, active
searching for our son. Embassy personnel has turned over. The
country director and assistants have left Peace Corps service. The
FBI agent in charge has been reassigned. We suspect that our son’s
disappearance is considered a cold case by the Bolivian national police, and it is sitting in a manilla folder tucked away.
Twice we have asked for Peace Corps to hire a private investigator to really concentrate on our son’s case, and twice we have
been rebuffed.
In closing, we have been met at every turn with the attitude at
Peace Corps that it does not need fixing as it is not broken, and
our son is or was responsible for whatever happened to him.
There is also an attitude that there should be no outside governmental oversight of Peace Corps other than within its own agency.
The director has sent a letter to the Senate outlining the proposed
changes and practices and protocols for volunteer safety. These
changes are necessary and should be adopted immediately and financed immediately.
However, in order to ensure that the change does not only take
place on paper, the Poiriers feel that there should be an entity
doing oversight which has no vested interest in Peace Corps. Only
after the safety of each and every individual volunteer is properly
addressed should there be an expansion of Peace Corps. If not, the
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incidents that that are reported in the daily news will increase perhaps exponentially as the number of volunteers increases. The robberies, rapes and murders will undoubtedly grow.
We as a family do not wish the Peace Corps mission to be
changed, but before any other volunteer is harmed due to lack of
proper security measures and the availability of every possible
communication device and the ceasing of assignment of solitary volunteers to remote areas are stopped, the problems will only get
worse.
Congress must be brave and bring about change. It must be done
legislatively so that each succeeding Peace Corps director and assistant director will carry out the mandate to protect the volunteers first and foremost.
The Peace Corps must realize that the world is not the same as
it was 42 years ago, and change is necessary to protect its lifeblood,
the volunteers, without whom there is no Peace Corps.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Poirier follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT
OF
WALTER R. POIRIER
Dear Chairman Hyde and esteemed members,
The Poirier family is extremely grateful for this opportunity to speak to this committee regarding our grueling experience involving the Peace Corps and the disappearance of our son, Walter J Poirier. In the three years since his vanishing without a trace, we have been through a gamut of emotions, which no family should
have to endure.
To start, we firmly believe that if we had not tried to contact our son on March
4, 2001, after not hearing from him for over a month, the Peace Corps would not
have known he was missing for another week or two. Lack of at least a weekly reporting mandate, coupled with an influx of new PCVs, Bolivia 26, which seemed to
overburden the management for Bolivia Peace Corps, is to blame. Trying to place
too many volunteers in an effort to boost enrollment numbers, while not having
enough qualified management to deal with the situation, caused the Peace Corps
to lose contact with our son. We believe that our son actually disappeared sometime
after January 31, 2001, as no Peace Corps personnel can confirm seeing him after
that week. Whatever happened to him, he was declared officially missing by the
Peace Corps on March 6, 2001. When I spoke with the Country Director, I asked
what safety protocols were in place for volunteers whose assignments were in remote areas such as my son and what provisions were made to enable them to communicate with Peace Corps Bolivia headquarters. She replied that there was a radio
telephone within two or three kilometers of my son’s site. The radio telephone was
actually several miles upriver. When asked why these young people had no cell
phones, satellite phones, or GPS devices, her response was ‘‘we’ve been doing it this
way for forty years’’. This attitude that the Peace Corps had no need for change is
a recurring theme in Peace Corps liturgy.
We believe that the Peace Corps response was too little too late. There are numerous reasons for this. The aforementioned lack of oversight is one, but more importantly, there is a prevailing attitude of acceptance within Peace Corps management
that many volunteers take off from their assignments without leave.
One of the reasons for this phenomenon of going AWOL, maybe a lack of specific
goals in the work assignments, and lack of proper experience to match the work assignment. This may result in a high rate of early separation. When young college
graduates, who have just devoted four long years in reaching a goal, are placed in
an environment where there is little or no tangible success to be achieved, boredom
sets in and this would seem to be the reason for the unauthorized leaves. This current generation has been raised on visual and tactile stimulation. They need positive feedback and reinforcement so that they feel what they are doing is having
positive results. The push to increase the number of PCVs will only increase if the
number of generalists decreases. We believe that the Bolivian Peace Corps management team felt that our son has taken one of those leaves, as they only sent his
immediate supervisor to find him. We are not sure, but we believe that the embassy
and the Bolivian National Police were not notified until several days after we alerted the Peace Corps. To compound the matter, the supervisor concocted a lie, stating
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30
that our son had a meeting with his counterpart in early March 2001, at the La
Paz government house. This assistant country director said he lied to protect himself after being confronted by the FBI. That is probably true, but we also believe
that the constant theme of protecting the Peace Corps’ image was a factor. We believe that the lack of supervision, lack of a meaningful assignment and lack of a
proper place to live all contributed to the loss of our son.
From the beginning, we have found the Peace Corps to be more concerned with
its image and protecting the aura and prestige of the Peace Corps than any other
issue. In the first meeting with PC personnel from Washington on March 26, 2001,
they stated that the search for Walter, had been ‘‘reinvigorated’’, then the Regional
Director, Ms. Minutillo, and a psychologist, Ms. Gutmann, raised questions about
our son’s sense of responsibility and his work ethic. Our son had first been declared
missing on March 6, 2001, and now we were being told that the search was reinvigorated? The second visit came on April 6, 2001, and this time Mr. Boswell, a member of PCs Inspector General’s office accompanied Ms. Gutmann, along with a person who was to do a video for Bolivian television. Mr. Boswell, who said he was the
lead investigator for my son’s case and had just returned from Bolivia, intimated
that it was not uncommon for PC volunteers to form relationships with the locals
in their host countries, and hinted that they thought that this might be my son’s
case. On both occasions, there was a concern that we would say or do something
that would impugn the Peace Corps image. This became more apparent, each time
we tried to bring national attention to Walter’s disappearance. The most glaring example occurred when we appeared on the Today Show in April 2001, there was a
press release already being circulated as we were appearing. Further examples of
this constant spin done by PR people within Peace Corps, is the outraged response
to the two reports done by the GAO, especially the one which focused on our son
which is GAO report #01–970R dated July 20, 2001.
We have also found the Peace Corps to be obstructive. Simple requests for information were always met with the response that the FOIA act came into force for
our requests and that we must follow procedure. Now when we did submit for the
information we wanted, we were met with stonewalling and denial of information.
This practice seems to be consistently used to stop discovery of information, which
could damage the Peace Corps image, from being obtained. Only after the Dayton
Daily News sued to obtain the information, was it begrudgingly dispensed.
We also find the Peace Corps to be insensitive. Two examples: On January 13,
2002, we were sent an invitation to celebrate Peace Corps Day by sharing our experiences about our Peace Corps volunteer’s service and our thoughts. In other words,
we were left on a mailing list despite all we had been through. The second incident
occurred when we were sent a letter by the Peace Corp Director, informing us that
Peace Corps was going to close out our son’s service. As there was no resolution to
his case, we were outraged that such a letter would be forthcoming. Only after calls
to Senators Kennedy and Kerry, and Representative Meehan, did the Director reverse his decision and agree to a one year extension with a review every year. So
far another year’s extension has been granted for this year extending our son’s service to February 2005. We feel that our son should be kept active until there is a
final outcome, whatever that may be. We feel that he should be listed on the wall
of remembrance at Peace Corps headquarters with the notation ‘‘missing in service’’
until such time as proof of his whereabouts and status changes. We know that since
9/11 there has been little if any active searching for our son. Embassy personnel
have turned over, the Country Director and Assistants have left Peace Corps service, and the FBI agent in charge has been reassigned. We suspect that our son’s
disappearance is considered a cold case by the Bolivian National Police and tucked
away in a manila folder gathering dust. Twice, we have asked for Peace Corps to
hire a private investigator to really concentrate on our son’s case, and twice we have
been rebuffed.
In closing, we have been met at every turn with the attitude at Peace Corps that
it doesn’t need fixing as it isn’t broken and that our son is/was responsible for whatever has happened to him. There is also an attitude that there should be no outside
governmental oversight of Peace Corps, other than within its own Agency. The Director sent a letter to the Senate, outlining the Peace Corps proposed changes to
the practices and protocols for volunteer safety. The changes are necessary and
should be adopted immediately. However, in order to insure that the change doesn’t
only take place on paper, the Poirier family feels that there should be an entity
doing oversight which has no vested interest in Peace Corps. Only after the safety
of each an every individual volunteer is property addressed should there be an expansion of Peace Corps. If not, then the incidents that were reported in the Dayton
Daily News will increase, perhaps, exponentially, as the number of volunteers’ increases. The robberies, rapes, and murders, will undoubtedly grow. We as a family
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31
do not wish that the Peace Corps mission be changed, but before any other volunteer is harmed due to lack of proper security measures, availability of communication devices at all times, and assignment of solitary volunteers to remote area is
stopped, the problems can only get worse. Congress must be brave and bring about
change. It must be done legislatively so that each succeeding Peace Corps Director
and Assistant Director will carry out the mandate to protect the volunteers, first
and foremost. The Peace Corps must realize that the world is not the same place it
was 42 years ago, and change is necessary to protect its life blood, the volunteers,
without whom, there is no Peace Corps.
If change is mandated through legislation, perhaps no other parent will have to
appear before this body, after losing a precious son or daughter, due to lack of proper management security protocols and resistant attitudes toward change in the
Peace Corps.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is the end of my prepared statement. I am now
ready to answer any questions that your and any member of the committee may
have.
Chairman HYDE. Thank you very much, Mr. Poirier.
Mr. Bruce?
STATEMENT OF JEFFREY BRUCE, EDITOR, ‘‘DAYTON DAILY
NEWS’’
Mr. BRUCE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Members of the Committee. I have been asked here today to
talk a little bit about the Dayton Daily News investigation of the
Peace Corps and the safety risks faced by its volunteers.
For 20 months, investigative reporter Russell Carollo and our
Washington correspondent, Mei Ling Hopgood, examined the Peace
Corps safety record. Our work included interviews with more than
500 people in the United States and 10 other countries. We filed
75 Freedom of Information Act requests and appeals, and ultimately we ended up suing the Peace Corps in Federal Court to obtain public records that document assaults against volunteers. That
reporting resulted in a 7-day series that was published in 2003.
Major findings of that series show that violence against volunteers is widespread. Since 1961, more than 250 Peace Corps Volunteers have died, including 20 who were murdered, others who perished under mysterious circumstances and one volunteer, as we
have just heard, who has been missing since 2001. That represents
a death rate of about one volunteer every 2 months.
Since 1991, while the number of Peace Corps Volunteers has
grown by less than 30 percent, the reported incidence of assaults
against volunteers, and that includes a 112 percent increase in aggravated assaults, has more than doubled. In 2002, by way of example a Peace Corps Volunteer was assaulted or robbed every 23
hours. In 1977, male volunteers outnumbered females by a ratio of
two to one. Today, women comprise a majority of Peace Corps Volunteers, and they represent 70 percent of the assault victims.
Volunteers frequently arrive at their sites fresh out of training
and without a job to keep them busy. Some turn to drinking, using
drugs, traveling to unsafe areas or engaging in other activities that
put them in danger, our research showed.
The extent of this safety problem has been disguised for decades,
partly because the assaults occurred thousands of miles away, partly because the Peace Corps has made little effort to publicize them
and partly because the agency deliberately kept people from finding out while emphasizing the positive aspects of Peace Corps service.
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The agency misled a number of families and the public about circumstances of several deaths. The details of that are in the written
statement that I have provided. I must say also, though, in fairness, we also encountered a number of occasions where the Peace
Corps was very helpful to families seeking information and was responsive to safety concerns.
The Peace Corps did not start collecting worldwide crime statistics until 1990, 28 years after it first sent volunteers overseas, and
the statistics it now makes available to the public and Congress
make it appear volunteers are safer than they actually are.
Though the Peace Corps calculates a crime rate based on the
number of volunteers, it does not use the actual number of crime
victims when calculating the rate; only the number of incidents. So,
for example, when three women were raped in El Salvador in 1996,
statistics from the Peace Corps database reflect a single rape incident. The agency still does not collect statistics on certain crimes,
such as kidnappings and abductions, and murder is counted simply
as an assault under the agency’s system.
Too often, our reporters found, warnings about safety from Peace
Corps safety officers have been ignored. In 1992, John Hale, then
acting Inspector General for the Peace Corps, warned in a 43-page
report to Congress of a marked increase in violent acts against volunteers worldwide. He told the Dayton Daily News that he quit the
Peace Corps after working on the report in part because the agency
ignored his warning. ‘‘The idea was to return . . . to the land of
myth and legacy,’’ he said, ‘‘not to make sure this was a good and
effective agency.’’
This panel may find it interesting that it was easier getting information out of the former Soviet Union than it was out of the
Peace Corps. ‘‘Ukraine is a democratic country,’’ the regional police
chief told us when supplying records of a volunteer’s murder, an incident that the Peace Corps had warned volunteers not to discuss
with the media. ‘‘The press is free,’’ the Ukrainian police chief told
us. ‘‘We have nothing to hide.’’
Compare that to the Peace Corps, which refused to even acknowledge some of our Freedom of Information Act requests, and
when they did send records, and only after being sued, the agency
removed the names of countries where assaults occurred, the dates
assaults occurred, the names of country directors responsible for
safety and other information that is routinely released by police departments here in the United States every day.
Since the publication of the series, there has been a great deal
of debate among former Peace Corps Volunteers. We reference that
in our written remarks that I have given you.
The Peace Corps has made changes. They now emphasize safety
on their Web site, something that prior to publication of our series
you would not have seen. That includes a video message from the
director and, for the first time, the agency’s annual report on assault, a report that the U.S. General Accounting Office has been
trying to get the agency to post for years.
We note in our written report to you that there are also examples
of Peace Corps Volunteers whose experience has been very, very
meaningful in their lives. In fact, most of the 350 volunteers that
we interviewed, including victims of assault, praised the Peace
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Corps and feel it is one of the most important experiences that they
have had.
Nonetheless, that is not necessarily representational of the statistics that show a rise in the increase of violence against volunteers. I will leave you with one quote from Jennifer Peterson, a volunteer who underwent 10 facial surgeries over 21⁄2 years after
being beaten with a rock in the African country of Lesotho.
She told the newspaper she felt abandoned by the Peace Corps.
‘‘I thought the Peace Corps was different from a typical government
entity,’’ she said. ‘‘I was expecting some support from them. I got
nothing.’’
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Bruce follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT
OF
JEFFREY BRUCE, EDITOR, ‘‘DAYTON DAILY NEWS’’
Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, thank you for this opportunity to appear before you today. I’ve been asked to summarize the results of the Dayton Daily
News investigation of the Peace Corps and the safety risks faced by its volunteers
For 20 months, investigative reporter Russell Carollo and our Washington correspondent, Mei Ling Hopgood, examined the Peace Corps safety record.
The reporters interviewed more than 500 people in the United States and 10
other countries, filed 75 Freedom of Information Act requests and, ultimately, the
newspaper sued the Peace Corps in federal court to obtain public records that document assaults against volunteers.
The reporting resulted in a seven-day series of articles that ran between Oct. 26–
Nov. 1, 2003. Reprints of the series and related articles, including reaction from the
Peace Corps and Peace Corps volunteers, were provided to this committee.
I might also add, Mr. Chairman, that Mr. Carollo and Ms. Hopgood are in attendance at this hearing.
Major findings from our investigation show that the Peace Corps puts volunteers
in danger by sending them alone to some of the most dangerous corners of the
world.
Violence against volunteers is widespread.
Since 1961, more than 250 Peace Corps volunteers have died—including at least
20 who were murdered, others who perished under mysterious circumstances and
one volunteer, Walter Poirier, who has been missing since 2001.
That represents a death rate of about one volunteer every two months.
Since 1991, while the number of Peace Corps volunteers has grown by less than
30 percent, the reported incidents of assaults against volunteers—including rapes—
has more than doubled.
In 2002, by way of example, a Peace Corps volunteer was assaulted or robbed
every 23 hours.
In 1977, male volunteers outnumbered females by a ratio of 2 to 1. Today, women
comprise a majority of Peace Corps volunteers—and they represent 70 percent of the
assault victims.
The newspaper’s investigation showed that many assaults were linked to a decades-old practice of sending young volunteers just out of college to live alone with
virtually no supervision in remote, often violent, regions, in unsafe housing.
Volunteers frequently arrive at their sites fresh out of training without a job to
keep them busy
Some turn to drinking, using drugs, traveling to unsafe areas, or engaging in
other activities that put them in danger. Alcohol was linked to nearly 1 in 6 deaths
since 1962 and nearly 1 in 3 assaults since 1999, according to our research.
The extent of this safety problem has been disguised for decades, partly because
the assaults occurred thousands of miles away, partly because the Peace Corps has
made little effort to publicize them and partly because the agency deliberately kept
people from finding out—while emphasizing the positive aspects of Peace Corps
Service.
The agency misled a number of families and the public about the circumstances
of several deaths; some families learned critical details about how their loved ones
died for the first time from the newspaper.
One mother didn’t know her daughter had attempted suicide in Ecuador before
lapsing into a coma and dying.
‘‘They just told me she had a massive stroke,’’ the mother said.
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The brother of another volunteer said the family was never told that his 22-yearold sister had written a resignation letter the day she disappeared in Africa or that
the Peace Corps suspected suicide. Her body was found five days later floating in
a river, and the family was led to believe a crocodile killed her.
The family of a man who was murdered in Ukraine was unaware of the role a
young Ukrainian woman played in his death. The woman stole the volunteer’s
apartment keys, giving them to an acquaintance of the killer, and she is suspected
to be the same woman who poisoned him the night he was killed.
However, we did find cases where the agency was responsive to volunteers’ safety
concerns and was helpful in providing information to families. Our observation was
that the agency’s track record was erratic and inconsistent in this regard.
The Peace Corps didn’t start collecting worldwide crime statistics until 1990, 28
years after it first sent volunteers overseas, and the statistics it now makes available to the public and Congress make it appear volunteers are safer than they actually are.
Though the Peace Corps calculates a crime rate based on the number of volunteers, it doesn’t use the actual number of crime victims when calculating the rate—
only the number of ‘‘incidents.’’
So, for example, when three women were raped in El Salvador in 1996, statistics
reflect a single rape incident.
The agency still doesn’t collect statistics on certain crimes, such as kidnappings
and abductions. Murder is counted simply as an assault under the agency’s system.
Too often, warnings about safety from Peace Corps safety officers have been ignored.
In 1992, John Hale, then acting inspector general for the Peace Corps, warned
in a 43-page report to Congress of ‘‘a marked increase in violent acts against volunteers worldwide.’’
Hale told the Dayton Daily News that he quit the Peace Corps after working on
the report, in part, because the agency ignored his warnings.
‘‘The idea was to return . . . to the land of myth and legacy,’’ he said, ‘‘not to
make sure this was a good and effective agency that was doing good and keeping
people safe. People don’t want to burst the myth of the culture.’’
You might find it interesting that it was easier getting information out of the
former Soviet Union than out of Peace Corps.
‘‘Ukraine is a democratic country,’’ the regional police chief told us when supplying records of a volunteer’s murder, an incident that the Peace Corps had warned
volunteers not to discuss with the media.
‘‘The press is free,’’ the Ukrainian police chief told us. ‘‘We have nothing to hide.’’
Compare that to the Peace Corps, which refused to even acknowledge some of our
FOIA requests and when they did send records (and only after being sued), the
agency removed the names of countries where assaults occurred, the dates assaults
occurred, the names of country directors responsible for safety and other information routinely released by police departments here in the United States every day.
The series has prompted vigorous debate among current and former volunteers
and staff members. Much of that was prompted by the Peace Corps itself, which,
even before we printed the first word was warning the national Peace Corps Association and its members that our reporting would be misleading.
John Hale, the former Peace Corps IG, told us he was not surprised by that defensiveness:
In dozens of investigations and audits, he said his staff was ‘‘often surprised at
how little ‘peace’ there was in the corps when its virtue was questioned.’’
He warned us the reaction could turn fierce, ad hominem and visceral—his words.
It has been.
However, within weeks of publication of our series, the Peace Corps redesigned
its web site to include extensive information on safety and security.
The additional information includes a video message from the director and, for the
first time, the agency’s annual report on assaults—a report the U.S. General Accounting Office had been trying to get the agency to post for two years.
In fairness, it should be noted—as it was in our series—that most of the 350 volunteers we interviewed, including assault victims, looked favorably on their service
saying it was a life-changing experience.
George Stengren’s service in Africa inspired him to teach high school in Harlem.
After teaching business skills in the African country of Togo, Tiffany Arthur of Dayton is an analyst in international agricultural trade. Melissa McSwegin of Kettering,
who just finished three years as a volunteer, is working to eradicate the debilitating
illness known as Guinea Worm disease in Niger.
Other volunteers have gone on to public service, including Ohio Gov. Bob Taft and
former U.S. Congressman Tony Hall of Dayton, who continues to champion the
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cause of hunger around the world as the ambassador to the United Nations’ food
relief agencies.
That acknowledged, the Peace Corps’ own statistics clearly show that volunteers
are at increased risk.
And the stories of volunteers who returned from service disillusioned—or who did
not return at all—need to be heard.
One of them is Jennifer Petersen, a volunteer who underwent 10 facial surgeries
over two and a half years after being beaten with a rock in the African country of
Lesotho:
She said she felt abandoned by the Peace Corps. ‘‘I thought the Peace Corps was
different from a typical government entity,’’ she said. ‘‘I was expecting some support
from them. I got nothing.’’
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman HYDE. Thank you, Mr. Bruce.
Mr. Ford?
STATEMENT OF JESS FORD, DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL
AFFAIRS AND TRADE, U.S. GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE
Mr. FORD. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Members of the Committee. I am pleased to be here today to discuss GAO’s recent work
on the Peace Corps. Most of my testimony is based on a major report we issued in July 2002, supplemented by some additional information we have been able to obtain from the Peace Corps to update our analysis.
About 7,500 Peace Corps Volunteers currently serve in 70 countries around the world. The Administration intends to increase this
number to about 14,000 over the next few years, and Congress has
appropriated additional monies to the Peace Corps to support this
expansion.
Volunteers often live in areas with limited access to reliable communications, police or medical services. As Americans, they may be
viewed as relatively wealthy and, hence, good targets for criminal
activity. In many countries, female volunteers face special challenges. More than a third of female volunteers report experiencing
sexual harassment on at least a monthly basis.
My testimony today will summarize and update where possible
key findings from our report related to trends in crime against volunteers and the agency’s system for generating information; the
Peace Corps’ field implementation of its safety and security framework; the underlying factors that contribute to the Peace Corps’
performance in the field. I will also discuss Peace Corps actions
that have been taken since our report was issued and attempt to
show what actions they have taken.
Peace Corps reported rates for most types of assaults have increased since the Peace Corps began collecting data in 1990. For
example, the reported incident rate for major physical assaults
nearly doubled from an average of about 9 per 1,000 volunteer
years in 1991 to 1993 to an average of about 17 per 1,000 volunteers in 1998 to 2000. Our recent review of data for 2001 and 2002
show that this rate has not changed.
The full extent of crime against Peace Corps Volunteers is unknown because there is significant underreporting of crime by volunteers. We reported that Peace Corps had initiated efforts to encourage reporting and collecting additional data, but that there
were other unrealized opportunities for additional examination of
data. For example, our analysis showed that newer volunteers are
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more likely to become victims of crime than their more experienced
colleagues.
In response to our findings, in April 2003 the Peace Corps hired
an analyst to enhance its capacity for gathering and analyzing
crime data. The analyst focused on upgrading the crime data system and shifted responsibility for collecting data from the Medical
Office to the newly created Safety and Security Office. According
to the analyst, additional crime analyses have not yet been conducted as the focus has been on upgrading their collection and data
reporting system.
We reported that Peace Corps headquarters had developed a
safety and security framework, but that the field’s implementation
of the framework had produced varying results. While volunteers
were generally satisfied with the agency’s training programs, there
was mixed performance in key areas such as developing safe and
secure housing sites, monitoring volunteers and planning for emergencies.
For example, at each of the five posts we visited we found instances of volunteers who began their service in housing that had
not been inspected and had not met Peace Corps guidelines. We
also found variation in the frequency of staff contact with volunteers and in Peace Corps responsiveness to volunteer concerns
about safety and security.
To improve safety and security practices in the field, in 2002 the
agency increased the number of field based safety and security officers charged with reviewing post practices and assisting them in
making improvements. They also created a safety and security position at each post.
The Peace Corps has hired a compliance officer to ensure that its
rules are followed in the field. However, we recently reviewed some
recent IG reports that indicate some safety and security shortcomings are continuing to occur in the field.
We reported that a number of factors, including staff turnover,
informal supervision and oversight mechanisms and unclear guidance have hampered the Peace Corps’ efforts to ensure high quality
performance. For example, the Peace Corps reported that high staff
turnover caused in part by the agency’s statutorily imposed 5-year
rule has had a direct relationship to their ability to institutionalize
best practices in the field, a situation that the agency staff are continually in the process of reinventing the wheel.
We recommended that the Peace Corps address this issue. Congress has granted the Peace Corps authority to exempt safety and
security staff from the 5-year rule, and the director has recently exempted 23 positions to carry out a more systematic way of addressing safety and security.
To strengthen supervision and oversight, the Peace Corps created
an Office of Safety and Security that centralizes safety and security
functions under an associate director. The office is supported by a
staff member in each of the three regional bureaus, a compliance
officer, an analyst and nine field based security officers. All of these
positions have been created since we did our work in July.
In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, since we issued our report in July
2002, the Peace Corps has taken several steps to improve the safety and security of its volunteers. However, Peace Corps is still in
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the process of implementing many of these actions, which are designed to improve the security environment that volunteers work
under.
This concludes my statement.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Ford follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT OF JESS FORD, DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
TRADE, U.S. GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE
AND
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:
I am pleased to be here to discuss Peace Corps’ efforts to ensure the safety and
security of its volunteers. My testimony is based on our July 2002 report 1 and information we were able to obtain from the Peace Corps to update our analysis.
About 7,500 Peace Corps volunteers currently serve in 70 ‘‘posts’’ (country missions) around the world. The administration intends to increase this number to
about 14,000 over the next few years, and Congress has increased appropriations
for the Peace Corps to support this expansion. Volunteers often live in areas with
limited access to reliable communications, police, or medical services. As Americans,
they may be viewed as relatively wealthy and, hence, good targets for criminal activity. In many countries, female volunteers face special challenges; more than a
third of female volunteers report experiencing sexual harassment on at least a
monthly basis.2
My testimony today will summarize and update, where possible, key findings from
our 2002 report related to (1) trends in crime against volunteers and the agency’s
system for generating such information, (2) the agency’s field implementation of its
safety and security framework, and (3) the underlying factors that contributed to
Peace Corps’ performance in the field. I will also discuss actions that Peace Corps
has taken to improve the safety and security of its volunteers since we issued our
report.
We conducted fieldwork at Peace Corps’ headquarters and visited five countries
with Peace Corps programs to prepare our report. To develop our analysis, we:
• analyzed Peace Corps’ crime data;
• reviewed agencywide safety and security policies, guidelines, training materials, volunteer satisfaction surveys, and Inspector General reports;
• interviewed key staff and more than 150 volunteers; and:
• examined practices for selecting volunteer sites, developing emergency action
plans, and performing other tasks.
We conducted our work from July 2001 through May 2002 and from February
2004 through March 2004, in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.
In summary, we found the following:
Peace Corps’ reported incidence rates of crimes committed against volunteers have
remained essentially unchanged since we last reported.3 Reported rates for most
types of assaults have increased since Peace Corps began collecting data in 1990,
but reported rates have stabilized in recent years. For example, the reported incidence rate for major physical assaults nearly doubled from an average of about 9
per 1,000 volunteer years in 1991–1993 to an average of about 17 per 1,000 volunteer years4 in 1998–2000. Data for 2001 and 2002 show that this rate has not
changed. The full extent of crime against Peace Corps volunteers is unknown because there is significant underreporting of crime by volunteers. We reported that
Peace Corps had initiated efforts to encourage reporting and collect additional data
but that there were also other unrealized opportunities for additional examination
of data. For example, our analysis showed that newer volunteers may be more likely
1 U.S. General Accounting Office, GAO–02–818, Peace Corps: Initiatives for Addressing Safety
and Security Challenges Hold Promise, but Progress Should be Assessed (Washington, D.C.: July
25, 2002). We reported separately on events surrounding one specific security incident—the disappearance of a volunteer in Bolivia in early 2001. See The Peace Corps Failed to Properly Supervise Missing Volunteer and Lost Track of Him, GAO–O1–970R (Washington, D.C.: July 20,
2001).
2 Most recent available data, from Peace Corps Volunteer Survey Global Report 2002, Peace
Corps (August 2003).
3 The Peace Corps crime data system records and tracks data by criminal ‘‘event’’ rather than
by volunteer; those charged with filing reports are instructed to count events involving more
than one volunteer only once.
4 One volunteer year is equivalent to 1 full year of service by a volunteer or trainee.
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to become victims of crime than their more experienced colleagues. In response to
our findings, in April 2003, Peace Corps hired an analyst to enhance its capacity
for gathering and analyzing crime data. The analyst has focused on upgrading the
crime data system and shifting the responsibility for data collection and analysis
from the medical office to the newly created safety and security office, to place the
responsibility for crime data in an office dedicated to safety and security. According
to the analyst, additional crime analyses have not yet been conducted, as the focus
has been on upgrading the process for collecting and reporting data.
We reported that Peace Corps’ headquarters had developed a safety and security
framework but that the field’s implementation of the framework had produced varying results. While volunteers were generally satisfied with the agency’s training programs, there was mixed performance in key elements of the framework such as in
developing safe and secure housing sites, monitoring volunteers, and planning for
emergencies. For example, at each of the five posts we visited, we found instances
of volunteers who began their service in housing that had not been inspected and
had not met Peace Corps’ guidelines. We also found that the frequency of staff contact with volunteers and the quality and comprehensiveness of emergency action
plans varied. Recent tests of the emergency action plans indicate that the agency
has made improvements in the length of time needed to contact volunteers. To improve safety and security practices in the field, in 2002, the agency increased the
number of field-based safety and security officers charged with reviewing post practices and assisting them in making improvements, and created a safety and security
position at each post. Peace Corps hired a compliance officer charged with independently assessing each post’s compliance with the framework. However, recent Inspector General reports indicate that safety and security shortcomings in the field are
still occurring.
We reported that a number of factors, including staff turnover, informal supervision and oversight mechanisms, and unclear guidance hampered Peace Corps’ efforts to ensure high-quality performance for the agency as a whole. For example,
Peace Corps reported that high staff turnover, caused in part by the agency’s statutorily imposed 5-year limit on employment for U.S. direct hire staff, had resulted
in a lack of institutional memory, producing a situation in which agency staff are
continually ‘‘reinventing the wheel.’’ We made a recommendation that Peace Corps
develop a strategy to address staff turnover, including an assessment of the ‘‘5-year
rule’’—a statutory restriction on the tenure of U.S. direct hire employees.5 In response to our recommendation on staff turnover and the difficulties it created, Peace
Corps was granted authority to exempt safety and security staff from the 5-year
rule. The agency has exempted 23 staff positions from the 5-year rule and plans to
conduct a study to determine whether there are additional positions that should be
exempted. To strengthen supervision and oversight, Peace Corps created an office
of safety and security that centralizes safety and security functions under an associate directorship. The office is supported by a staff member in each of the three
regional bureaus, a compliance officer, an analyst, and nine field-based security officers. We also recommended that Peace Corps develop performance indicators and
report on its safety and security initiatives. The agency is still clarifying its guidance on how to apply its revised framework, revising its indicators of progress, and
establishing a base line for judging performance in all areas of safety and security.
In conclusion, since we issued our report in July 2002, it is clear that the agency
has taken a number of steps designed to improve the safety and security of its volunteers. However, Peace Corps is still in the process of implementing many of these
actions and their full effect has yet to be demonstrated.
BACKGROUND:
Created in 1961, Peace Corps is mandated by statute to help meet developing
countries’ needs for trained manpower while promoting mutual understanding between Americans and other peoples. Volunteers commit to 2-year assignments in
host communities, where they work on projects such as teaching English, strengthening farmer cooperatives, or building sanitation systems. By developing relationships with members of the communities in which they live and work, volunteers
contribute to greater intercultural understanding between Americans and host country nationals. Volunteers are expected to maintain a standard of living similar to
that of their host community colleagues and co-workers. They are provided with stipends that are based on local living costs and housing similar to their hosts. Volun5 See U.S.C. 2506(a)(5), (6) and Public Law 108–7, the Consolidated Appropriations Act for
Fiscal Year 2003, as well as Public Law 108–199, the Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal
Year 2004.
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teers are not supplied with vehicles. Although the Peace Corps accepts older volunteers and has made a conscious effort to recruit minorities, the current volunteer
population has a median age of 25 years and is 85 percent white. More than 60 percent of the volunteers are women.
Volunteer health, safety, and security is Peace Corps’ highest priority, according
to the agency. To address this commitment, the agency has adopted policies for
monitoring and disseminating information on the security environments in which
the agency operates, training volunteers, developing safe and secure volunteer housing and work sites, monitoring volunteers, and planning for emergencies such as
evacuations. Headquarters is responsible for providing guidance, supervision, and
oversight to ensure that agency policies are implemented effectively. Peace Corps relies heavily on country directors—the heads of agency posts in foreign capitals—to
develop and implement practices that are appropriate for specific countries. Country
directors, in turn, rely on program managers to develop and oversee volunteer programs. Volunteers are expected to follow agency policies and exercise some responsibility for their own safety and security. Peace Corps emphasizes community acceptance as the key to maintaining volunteer safety and security. The agency has found
that volunteer safety is best ensured when volunteers are well integrated into their
host communities and treated as extended family and contributors to development.
REPORTED CRIME INCIDENTS HAVE INCREASED, BUT FULL EXTENT OF CRIME AGAINST
VOLUNTEERS REMAINS UNKNOWN:
Reported incidence rates of crime against volunteers have remained essentially
unchanged since we completed our report in 2002.6 Reported incidence rates for
most types of assaults have increased since Peace Corps began collecting data in
1990, but have stabilized in recent years. The reported incidence rate for major
physical assaults has nearly doubled, averaging about 9 assaults per 1,000 volunteer years in 1991–1993 and averaging about 17 assaults in 1998–2000. Reported
incidence rates for major assaults remained unchanged over the next 2 years. Reported incidence rates of major sexual assaults have decreased slightly, averaging
about 10 per 1,000 female volunteer years in 1991–1993 and about 8 per 1,000 female volunteer years in 1998–2000. Reported incidence rates for major sexual assaults averaged about 9 per 1,000 female volunteer years in 2001–2002.
Peace Corps’ system for gathering and analyzing data on crime against volunteers
has produced useful insights, but we reported in 2002 that steps could be taken to
enhance the system. Peace Corps officials agreed that reported increases are difficult to interpret; the data could reflect actual increases in assaults, better efforts
to ensure that agency staff report all assaults, and/or an increased willingness
among volunteers to report incidents. The full extent of crime against volunteers,
however, is unknown because of significant underreporting. Through its volunteer
satisfaction surveys, Peace Corps is aware that a significant number of volunteers
do not report incidents, thus reducing the agency’s ability to state crime rates with
certainty. For example, according to the agency’s 1998 survey, volunteers did not
report 60 percent of rapes and 20 percent of nonrape sexual assaults. Reasons cited
for not reporting include embarrassment, fear of repercussions, confidentiality concerns, and a belief that Peace Corps could not help.
In 2002, we observed that opportunities for additional analyses existed that could
help Peace Corps develop better-informed intervention and prevention strategies.
For example, our analysis showed that about a third of reported assaults after 1993
occurred from the fourth to the eighth month of service—shortly after volunteers
completed training, arrived at sites, and began their jobs. We observed that this
finding could be explored further and used to develop additional training.
Efforts to Improve Data Collection and Analysis Are in Process:
Since we issued our report, Peace Corps has taken steps to strengthen its efforts
for gathering and analyzing crime data. The agency has hired an analyst responsible for maintaining the agency’s crime data collection system, analyzing the information collected, and publishing the results for the purpose of influencing volunteer
safety and security policies. Since joining the agency a year ago, the analyst has focused on redesigning the agency’s incident reporting form to provide better information on victims, assailants, and incidents and preparing a new data management
system that will ease access to and analysis of crime information. However, these
new systems have not yet been put into operation. The analyst stated that the re6 Crime data are available through 2002. Based on our the assessment of crime data that we
performed in preparing our 2002 report and subsequent discussions with agency officials, we
concluded that the data we obtained to update the rates and trends in crime against volunteers
were sufficiently reliable for purposes of this statement.
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porting protocol and data management system are to be introduced this summer,
and responsibility for crime data collection and analysis will be transferred from the
medical office to the safety and security office. According to the analyst, she has not
yet performed any new data analyses because her focus to date has been on upgrading the system.
SAFETY AND SECURITY FRAMEWORK UNEVENLY IMPLEMENTED IN THE FIELD:
We reported that Peace Corps’ headquarters had developed a safety and security
framework but that the field’s implementation of this framework was uneven. The
agency has taken steps to improve the field’s compliance with the framework, but
recent Inspector General reports indicate that this has not been uniformly achieved.
We previously reported that volunteers were generally satisfied with the agency’s
training programs. However, some volunteers had housing that did not meet the
agency’s standards, there was great variation in the frequency of staff contact with
volunteers, and posts had emergency action plans with shortcomings. To increase
the field’s compliance with the framework, in 2002, the agency hired a compliance
officer at headquarters, increased the number of field-based safety and security officer positions, and created a safety and security position at each post. However, recent Inspector General reports continued to find significant shortcomings at some
posts, including difficulties in developing safe and secure sites and preparing adequate emergency action plans.
Volunteers Are Generally Satisfied with Training:
In 2002, we found that volunteers were generally satisfied with the safety training that the agency provided, but we found a number of instances of uneven performance in developing safe and secure housing. Posts have considerable latitude in
the design of their safety training programs, but all provide volunteers with 3
months of preservice training that includes information on safety and security. Posts
also provide periodic in-service training sessions that cover technical issues. Many
of the volunteers we interviewed said that the safety training they received before
they began service was useful and cited testimonials by current volunteers as one
of the more valuable instructional methods. In both the 1998 and 1999 volunteer
satisfaction surveys, over 90 percent of volunteers rated safety and security training
as adequate or better; only about 5 percent said that the training was not effective.
Some regional safety and security officer reports have found that improvements
were needed in post training practices. The Inspector General has reported that volunteers at some posts said cross-cultural training and presentations by the U.S. embassy’s security officer did not prepare them adequately for safety-related challenges
they faced during service. Some volunteers stated that Peace Corps did not fully
prepare them for the racial and sexual harassment they experienced during their
service. Some female volunteers at posts we visited stated that they would like to
receive self-protection training.
Mixed Performance in Housing, Monitoring Volunteers, and Emergency Action Plans:
Peace Corps’ policies call for posts to ensure that housing is inspected and meets
post safety and security criteria before the volunteers arrive to take up residence.
Nonetheless, at each of the five posts we visited, we found instances of volunteers
who began their service in housing that had not been inspected and had various
shortcomings. For example, one volunteer spent her first 3 weeks at her site living
in her counterpart’s office. She later found her own house; however, post staff had
not inspected this house, even though she had lived in it for several months. Poorly
defined work assignments and unsupportive counterparts may also increase volunteers’ risk by limiting their ability to build a support network in their host communities. At the posts we visited, we met volunteers whose counterparts had no plans
for the volunteers when they arrived at their sites, and only after several months
and much frustration did the volunteers find productive activities.
We found variations in the frequency of staff contact with volunteers, although
many of the volunteers at the posts we visited said they were satisfied with the frequency of staff visits to their sites, and a 1998 volunteer satisfaction survey reported that about two-thirds of volunteers said the frequency of visits was adequate
or better. However, volunteers had mixed views about Peace Corps’ responsiveness
to safety and security concerns and criminal incidents. The few volunteers we spoke
with who said they were victims of assault expressed satisfaction with staff response
when they reported the incidents. However, at four of the five posts we visited, some
volunteers described instances in which staff were unsupportive when the volunteers reported safety concerns. For example, one volunteer said she informed Peace
Corps several times that she needed a new housing arrangement because her door-
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man repeatedly locked her in or out of her dormitory. The volunteer said staff were
unresponsive, and she had to find new housing without the Peace Corps’ assistance.
In 2002, we reported that, while all posts had tested their emergency action plan,
many of the plans had shortcomings, and tests of the plans varied in quality and
comprehensiveness. Posts must be well prepared in case an evacuation becomes necessary. In fact, evacuating volunteers from posts is not an uncommon event. In the
last two years Peace Corps has conducted six country evacuations involving nearly
600 volunteers. We also reported that many posts did not include all expected elements of a plan, such as maps demarcating volunteer assembly points and alternate
transportation plans. In fact, none of the plans contained all of the dimensions listed
in the agency’s Emergency Action Plan checklist, and many lacked key information.
In addition, we found that in 2002 Peace Corps had not defined the criteria for a
successful test of a post plan.
Actions Taken to Improve Field Compliance, but Implementation Still Uneven:
Peace Corps has initiated a number of efforts to improve the field’s implementation of its safety and security framework, but Inspector General reports continued
to find significant shortcomings at some posts. However, there has been improvement in post communications with volunteers during emergency action plan tests.
We reviewed 10 Inspector General reports conducted during 2002 and 2003. Some
of these reports were generally positive—one congratulated a post for operating an
‘‘excellent’’ program and maintaining high volunteer morale. However, a variety of
weaknesses were also identified. For example, the Inspector General found multiple
safety and security weaknesses at one post, including incoherent project plans and
a failure to regularly monitor volunteer housing. The Inspector General also reported that several posts employed inadequate site development procedures; some
volunteers did not have meaningful work assignments, and their counterparts were
not prepared for their arrival at site. In response to a recommendation from a prior
Inspector General report, one post had prepared a plan to provide staff with rape
response training and identify a local lawyer to advise the post of legal procedures
in case a volunteer was raped. However, the post had not implemented these plans
and was unprepared when a rape actually occurred.
Our review of recent Inspector General reports identified emergency action planning weaknesses at some posts. For example, the Inspector General found that at
one post over half of first year volunteers did not know the location of their emergency assembly points. However, we analyzed the results of the most recent tests
of post emergency action plans and found improvement since our last report. About
40 percent of posts reported contacting almost all volunteers within 24 hours, compared with 33 percent in 2001. Also, our analysis showed improvement in the quality of information forwarded to headquarters. Less than 10 percent of the emergency
action plans did not contain information on the time it took to contact volunteers,
compared with 40 percent in 2001.
UNDERLYING FACTORS CONTRIBUTED TO UNEVEN FIELD IMPLEMENTATION, BUT AGENCY
HAS TAKEN STEPS TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE:
In our 2002 report, we identified a number of factors that hampered Peace Corps
efforts to ensure that this framework produced high-quality performance for the
agency as a whole. These included high staff turnover, uneven application of supervision and oversight mechanisms, and unclear guidance. We also noted that Peace
Corps had identified a number of initiatives that could, if effectively implemented,
help to address these factors. The agency has made some progress but has not completed implementation of these initiatives.
High staff turnover hindered high quality performance for the agency. According
to a June 2001 Peace Corps workforce analysis, turnover among U.S. direct hires
was extremely high, ranging from 25 percent to 37 percent in recent years. This report found that the average tenure of these employees was 2 years, that the agency
spent an inordinate amount of time selecting and orienting new employees, and that
frequent turnover produced a situation in which agency staff are continually ‘‘reinventing the wheel.’’ Much of the problem was attributed to the 5-year employment
rule, which statutorily restricts the tenure of U.S. direct hires, including regional
directors, country desk officers, country directors and assistant country directors,
and Inspector General and safety and security staff. Several Peace Corps officials
stated that turnover affected the agency’s ability to maintain continuity in oversight
of post operations.
In 2002, we also found that informal supervisory mechanisms and a limited number of staff hampered Peace Corps efforts to ensure even application of supervision
and oversight. The agency had some formal mechanisms for documenting and assessing post practices, including the annual evaluation and testing of post emer-
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gency action plans and regional safety and security officer reports on post practices.
Nonetheless, regional directors and country directors relied primarily on informal
supervisory mechanisms, such as staff meetings, conversations with volunteers, and
e-mail to ensure that staff were doing an adequate job of implementing the safety
and security framework. One country director observed that it was difficult to oversee program managers’ site development or monitoring activities because the post
did not have a formal system for performing these tasks. We also reported that
Peace Corps’ capacity to monitor and provide feedback to posts on their safety and
security performance was limited by the small number of staff available to perform
relevant tasks. We noted that the agency had hired three field-based security and
safety specialists to examine and help improve post practices, and that the Inspector
General also played an important role in helping posts implement the agency’s safety and security framework. However, we reported that between October 2000 and
May 2002 the safety and security specialists had been able to provide input to only
about one-third of Peace Corps’ posts while the Inspector General had issued findings on safety and security practices at only 12 posts over 2 years. In addition, we
noted that Peace Corps had no system for tracking post compliance with Inspector
General recommendations.
We reported that the agency’s guidance was not always clear. The agency’s safety
and security framework outlines requirements that posts are expected to comply
with but did not often specify required activities, documentation, or criteria for judging actual practices—making it difficult for staff to understand what was expected
of them. Many posts had not developed clear reporting and response procedures for
incidents such as responding to sexual harassment. The agency’s coordinator for volunteer safety and security stated that unclear procedures made it difficult for senior
staff, including regional directors, to establish a basis for judging the quality of post
practices. The coordinator also observed that, at some posts, field-based safety and
security officers had found that staff members did not understand what had to be
done to ensure compliance with agency policies.
Peace Corps Taking Steps to Address These Factors:
The agency has taken steps to reduce staff turnover, improve supervision and
oversight mechanisms, and clarify its guidance. In February 2003, Congress passed
a law to allow U.S. direct hires whose assignments involve the safety of Peace Corps
volunteers to serve for more than 5 years. The Peace Corps Director has employed
his authority under this law to designate 23 positions as exempt from the 5-year
rule. These positions include nine field-based safety and security officers, the three
regional safety and security desk officers working at agency headquarters, as well
as the crime data analyst and other staff in the headquarters office of safety and
security. They do not include the associate director for safety and security, the compliance officer, or staff from the office of the Inspector General. Peace Corps officials
stated that they are about to hire a consultant who will conduct a study to provide
recommendations about adding additional positions to the current list.
To strengthen supervision and oversight, Peace Corps has increased the number
of staff tasked with safety and security responsibilities and created the office of safety and security that centralizes all security-related activities under the direction of
a newly created associate directorate for safety and security. The agency’s new
crime data analyst is a part of this directorate. In addition, Peace Corps has:
• appointed six additional field-based safety and security officers, bringing the
number of such individuals on duty to nine (with three more positions to be
added by the end of 2004);
• authorized each post to appoint a safety and security coordinator to provide
a point of contact for the field-based safety and security officers and to assist
country directors in ensuring their post’s compliance with agency policies, including policies pertaining to monitoring volunteers and responding to their
safety and security concerns (all but one post have filled this position);
• appointed safety and security desk officers in each of Peace Corps’ three regional directorates in Washington, D.C., to monitor post compliance in conjunction with each region’s country desk officers; and:
• appointed a compliance officer, reporting to the Peace Corps Director, to independently examine post practices and to follow up on Inspector General recommendations on safety and security.
In response to our recommendation that Peace Corps’ Director develop indicators
to assess the effectiveness of the new initiatives and include these in the agency’s
annual Government Performance and Results Act reports, Peace Corps has ex-
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panded its reports to include 10 quantifiable indicators of safety and security performance.
To clarify agency guidance, Peace Corps has:
• created a ‘‘compliance tool’’ or checklist that provides a fairly detailed and explicit framework for headquarters staff to employ in monitoring post efforts
to put Peace Corps’ safety and security guidance into practice in their countries,
• strengthened guidance on volunteer site selection and development,
• developed standard operating procedures for post emergency action plans,
and:
• concluded a protocol clarifying that the Inspector General’s staff has responsibility for coordinating the agency’s response to crimes against volunteers.
These efforts have enhanced Peace Corps’ ability to improve safety and security
practices in the field. The threefold expansion in the field-based safety and security
officer staff has increased the agency’s capacity to support posts in developing and
applying effective safety and security policies. Regional safety and security officers
at headquarters and the agency’s compliance officer monitor the quality of post practices. All posts were required to certify that they were in compliance with agency
expectations by the end of June 2003. Since that time, a quarterly reporting system
has gone into effect wherein posts communicate with regional headquarters regarding the status of their safety and security systems and practices.
The country desks and the regional safety and security officers, along with the
compliance officer, have been reviewing the emergency action plans of the posts and
providing them with feedback and suggestions for improvement. The compliance officer has created and is applying a matrix to track post performance in addressing
issues deriving from a variety of sources, including application of the agency’s safety
and security compliance tool and Inspector General reports. The compliance officer
and staff from one regional office described their efforts, along with field-based safety and security staff and program experts from headquarters, to ensure an adequate
response from one post where the Inspector General had found multiple safety and
security weaknesses.
However, efforts to put the new system in place are incomplete. As already noted,
the agency has developed, but not yet introduced, an improved system for collecting
and analyzing crime data. The new associate director of safety and security observes
that the agency’s field-based safety and security officers come from diverse backgrounds and that some have been in their positions for only a few months. All have
received training via the State Department’s bureau of diplomatic security. However, they are still employing different approaches to their work. Peace Corps is preparing guidance for these officers that would provide them with a uniform approach
to conducting their work and reporting the results of their analyses, but the guidance is still in draft form. The Compliance Officer has completed detailed guidance
for crafting emergency action plans, but this guidance was distributed to the field
only at the beginning of this month. Moreover, following up on our 2002 recommendation, the agency’s Deputy Director is heading up an initiative to revise and
strengthen the indicators that the agency uses to judge the quality of all aspects
of its operations, including ensuring volunteer safety and security, under the Government Performance and Results Act.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my prepared statement. I would be happy to respond to any questions you or other Members of the Committee may have at this
time.
Chairman HYDE. Thank you, Mr. Ford.
Mr. Quigley?
STATEMENT OF KEVIN F.F. QUIGLEY, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL
PEACE CORPS ASSOCIATION
Mr. QUIGLEY. Good morning, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman and
Members of the Committee, my name is Kevin Quigley, and I am
the President of the National Peace Corps Association, the only national organization for Peace Corps Volunteers, staff, family and
friends.
I appreciate the opportunity to appear before the Committee to
provide a volunteer’s perspective on the important issue of safety
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and security of Peace Corps Volunteers. My comments this morning
are informed by literally conversations with more than 1,000 volunteers in small and large groups over the past 7 months.
In briefly presenting a volunteer’s perspective, I will make three
main points. Some of the discussion does not provide adequate context to gauge the severity of the problem. Two, a number of the
proposals could jeopardize what makes Peace Corps a singular success. Three, in devising a response, it is important that any legislation provide for additional funding so that the goal of doubling
Peace Corps can be met.
Among the community of those who have served, there is broad,
deep and passionate support for Peace Corps. This community understands the vital importance of having volunteers working overseas to promote peace through training individuals in their host
country, educating them about the United States and, upon their
return, educating Americans about the countries in which they
served.
Support for the Peace Corps mission continues despite the growing awareness of concerns about our country’s security and the
safety and security of volunteers. I would like to provide some perspective on this important issue by describing my own experience.
I became a volunteer in 1976 and served for 3 years. My group
arrived in Thailand a month after the last United States soldiers
stationed there during the Vietnam War departed. Like many volunteers who had gone before and after me, I knew there was some
risk related with my assignment since it was in one of the most
isolated and poor parts of the country.
Although there was considerable ongoing fighting in Dan Sai district where I was posted, I never felt threatened or in danger. This
was due to the fact that I was included in and identified as part
of the community. It seemed that all of the people in that district
understood who I was and that I was teaching their children.
The very nature of my assignment in a remote area far from
where tourists traveled or where there were scant Americans made
a deep impression on the people I worked with and lived with. This
encouraged them to see Peace Corps and the government that supported it in profound and important new ways.
If I had not been placed in such a remote area, for which I was
well prepared, and I discuss in my written statement some of the
preparation for that, I would not have been able to contribute or
learn anywhere near as much as I did. I have heard from hundreds
of other volunteers who had comparable kinds of postings in remote
or sensitive areas, and they share my assessment.
In the aftermath of the tragic events of September 2001, following the 2002 GAO report and in a lead up and in the aftermath
of the series published by the Dayton Daily News, there has been
a lively discussion in the Peace Corps community about safety and
security issues.
Within this community, there is a broad spectrum of opinion.
However, among those of us who have served we agree that safety
and security of volunteers must be of paramount concern. All our
members grieve for the 252 volunteers who have lost their lives in
service and have enormous sympathy for our fellow volunteers who
have experienced harm. Whenever a tragedy occurs or whenever a
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volunteer is harmed, we expect and in fact demand that Peace
Corps do everything humanly possibly to be responsive.
There is also a sense that the discussion on safety and security
misses the broader context of whether the Peace Corps experience
is, relatively speaking, any more risky in terms of homicides and
assaults than life of a comparable cohort in urban America, overseas development workers or volunteers with Peace Corps’ counterparts in Germany, Great Britain, France or Japan.
In fact, one of the most eloquent testimonies to the importance
of Peace Corps service is provided by the Radley family. I mention
this because Gordon Radley, a volunteer Malawi, was not able to
be here today. Gordon’s older brother, Larry, along with another
volunteer, David Crozier, were the first two volunteers who died in
service. After graduating from college, Larry’s sister, Elana, and
his brother, Gordon, both joined the Peace Corps, knowing full well
the risks associated with service.
There have been proposals to post at least two volunteers to each
site or consolidate groups of volunteers. In my view, that would diminish the experience and lessen the impact of Peace Corps without necessarily enhancing the safety and security of volunteers.
Two volunteers posted together tend to be less well integrated
and perhaps less well accepted by the local community. Two volunteers are more likely to be perceived as able to look after each
other, thus diminishing the community’s need to have a stake in
their safety and security.
Mr. Chairman, I understand that the Committee is considering
legislation to address the issue of volunteer safety and security.
Speaking simply as someone who has served, I would say changing
the status of the Inspector General is unlikely to have any effect
on volunteers’ safety and security.
Creating an Office of Ombudsman would be perceived by the
Peace Corps community as being responsive to many former volunteers, especially those who have been harmed or become ill during
their service and not received promised post service support. Establishing statutorily the Office of Safety and Security would be a way
to underscore the Congress’ concern with a commitment to ensure
the safety and security of volunteers.
Chairman Hyde and Ranking Member Lantos and Members of
the Committee, the Peace Corps community thanks you for addressing the issues of volunteer safety and security. The National
Peace Corps Association will work with you and the Committee to
ensure that these issues are addressed in a way that protects volunteers, preserves the essence of Peace Corps and best advances
U.S. interest.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Quigley follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT
OF
KEVIN F.F. QUIGLEY, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL PEACE CORPS
ASSOCIATION
Chairman Hyde and Ranking Democratic Member Lantos, my name is Kevin F.
F. Quigley, President of the National Peace Corps Association. I appreciate the opportunity to appear before the Committee to provide a volunteer’s perspective on the
important issue of the safety and security of Peace Corps Volunteers.
The National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) is a 501(c)(3) organization, founded
25 years ago in 1979 as the National Council of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers.
The NPCA is the only national organization for Peace Corps volunteers, staff, family
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and friends whose lives have been influenced by the Peace Corps experience. Our
mission is to ‘‘help lead the Peace Corps community in fostering peace through service, education and advocacy.’’
In the NPCA network, there are 30,000 individuals who participate in our national or affiliates’ activities and support our mission. These individuals reside in
all 50 states. The NPCA’s 154 affiliated groups are in 45 states and the District of
Columbia. The NPCA’s objective is to be a resource for the Peace Corps community.
The NPCA has programs to promote service, enhance understanding of other cultures, and to advocate around issues of concern to our community.
Over the past seven months, I have met with 25 of NPCA’s affiliates and talked
about the Peace Corps experience with more than a thousand former volunteers and
staff in small and large groups. The one common theme through all of these discussions is that Peace Corps service is a defining experience that continues to shape
our lives. Among the community of those who have served, there is broad, deep and
passionate support for Peace Corps, which often leads to ongoing service back home.
This community understands the vital importance of having volunteers working
overseas—as they have done in more than 130 countries—to promote peace through
training individuals in their host country, educating them about the United States,
and upon their return educating Americans about the country in which they served.
This reflects Peace Corps’ three goals, which are perceived as every bit as vital
today as when Peace Corps was established 43 years ago.
This fervent support for the Peace Corps mission continues despite the growing
awareness of concerns about our country’s security and the safety and security of
volunteers. This community understands more than ever the vital importance of
America’s positive engagement with the rest of the world especially at the grassroots level, living together as friends and colleagues, which only Peace Corps provides.
During these many conversations, I also have learned that no two of the 171,000
Americans who have served as Peace Corps volunteers have an identical experience.
There are vast differences based on the volunteer, the country, the assignment, the
era, and the people we served. There are, however, many common threads linking
these experiences across the generations of volunteers regardless of the country or
region of service or the nature of the assignment. These common threads include
serving in often remote locations, as perhaps the only American, learning another
language and living with others as friends and colleagues and developing a deep appreciation of another culture. Even with these many commonalities, it is difficult to
generalize. So, Mr. Chairman, I would like to provide some perspective on this important of safety and security issue by describing my own experience.
I became a Peace Corps Volunteer in 1976 and served for three years. My group
arrived in Thailand the month after the last U.S. soldiers stationed there during
the Vietnam War departed but while there was still fighting, especially in the border areas.
My training involved three components: 1) Thai language, 2) Teaching EnglishAs-A-Second Language, and 3) Cross-cultural. Having studied nine different languages in some fashion, I can attest that Peace Corps provided the finest language
training I ever received. The technical training was sufficient to ensure that we
would succeed as teachers in a Thai classroom. The cross-cultural training component provided invaluable insights about how to live and adapt to what was then an
extremely foreign culture.
After 9-weeks of training, I was sent to an isolated post in Dan Sai district, Loei
province approximately ten miles from the border with Laos in an area described
as ‘‘sensitive.’’ In that area there was ongoing fighting between insurgents and government forces. The closest volunteers were 60 kilometers to the South or 90 kilometers to the East, both over mountainous roads that were nearly impassable in
the monsoons. Like many volunteers who had gone before me, I knew there was
some risk associated with my assignment since it was in one of the most isolated
and poorest parts of the country.
Before my arrival at my post in Dan Sai, a Peace Corps program manager had
visited the site and meet with the host counterpart to ensure that there was an appropriate work assignment and housing.
Although there was considerable ongoing fighting in Dan Sai district, including
frequent firings of 105 millimeter shells, common sightings of helicopter gunships
and ambushes of government outposts, at my site I never felt threatened or in danger. This was due to the fact that I was included in and identified as part of the
community. It seemed that all the people in Dan Sai understood who I was and that
I was teaching their children. Since I was incorporated into the community, filing
the emergency action plan that Peace Corps required of all volunteers seemed a bit
unnecessary if not unreal.
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While a volunteer in Dan Sai, I was visited by the Country Director—who 25
years later gave me a copy of my letter regarding his visit. I was also visited by
one other volunteer who lived in the provincial capital, who I would visit typically
once a month. Communication was by mail since there was no phone service in my
district. To make a phone call required travel to the provincial capital, 90 kilometers
away. However, the mail and a yearly monitoring visit plus periodic trips to Bangkok for training or medical purposes were sufficient. Modern technology, especially
satellite and cell phones and access to the internet, provides today’s volunteers a
much greater ability to stay in touch with the in-country Peace Corps staff, as well
as their family and friends at home.
In my second and third years, I worked in more urban settings. I transferred from
Dan Sai because I thought I could make more of a contribution at a larger institution. Typically, I would be visited once a year by a Peace Corps official.
The very nature of my initial Peace Corps assignment—in a remote area far from
where tourists traveled or where they were scant Americans—made a deep impression on the people I worked and lived with. This encouraged them to see Peace
Corps and the government that supported it in profound and important new ways,
contributing to the most memorable experience of my life. That was truly remarkable given that the consequences of the war in Southeast Asia were still reverberating around the region.
I recognize that my experience was unique to me and happened decades ago.
Based on what I have learned from many other volunteers, however, it has some
bearing on this topic. My experience involved Peace Corps basic approach to volunteer placement: 1) site assessment, 2) volunteer training, 3) monitoring, and 4)
emergency planning. If I had not been placed in such a remote site, for which I was
well prepared, I would not have been able to contribute or learn anywhere near as
much as I did. I have heard from hundreds of other volunteers who had comparable
kinds of postings in remote and ‘‘sensitive areas,’’ and they share my assessment.
In the aftermath of the tragic events of September 2001, there has been growing
public attention to the issue of safety and security of Americans overseas, including
Peace Corps volunteers. Following the 2002 GAO Report and in the lead up and the
aftermath of a series published by The Dayton Daily News, there has been lively
discussion in the Peace Corps community about safety and security issues.
Within this community there is a broad spectrum of opinion. However, among
those of us who have served we agree that safety and security of volunteers must
be a paramount concern. All our members grieve for the 252 volunteers who have
lost their lives in service and have enormous sympathy for our fellow volunteers
who have experienced harm. Whenever a tragedy occurs or whenever a volunteer
is harmed we expect—in fact demand—that Peace Corps do everything humanly
possible to be responsive.
There is also a sense that the discussion on safety and security misses the broader
context, whether the Peace Corps experience is, relatively speaking, any more risky
in terms of homicides and assaults than life for a comparable cohort in urban America, overseas development workers or for volunteers with Peace Corps German, British, France and Japanese counterparts. In Appendix II, The GAO Report provides
a brief comparison between Peace Corps and other programs that place volunteers
overseas. Unfortunately, there is no statistical comparison regarding what those
agencies experiences are with safety and security.
In fact, one of the most eloquent testimonies to the importance of Peace Corps
service is provided by the Radley family. I mention this because Gordon Radley, a
volunteer in Malawi, was not able to testify today. Gordon’s older brother Larry
along with another volunteer, David Crozier, were the first two volunteers who died
in service. Larry death’s firmly shaped the future of the Radley family. After graduating from college, Larry’s sister Elana and his brother Gordon both joined the
Peace Corps knowing full well the risks associated with service.
In addition, there is concern among the community that the necessary attention
to safety and security does not diminish the essential uniqueness and value of the
Peace Corps experience—allowing Americans to live and work alongside our host
country counterparts. Much of this value is based on a flexible approach to posting
volunteers, whether it is in urban or rural settings. Volunteers are sent to where
there is a cooperating host institution offering appropriate work, access to essential
services, suitable housing, and an expressed need for them. All volunteers also prepare a plan for responding to emergencies. As I learned from the volunteers who
were recently evacuated from Haiti, these plans work remarkably well. This is attested to by the fact that in the more than 30 post closings over the past decade
due to civil war, political unrest, or concerns about repercussions related to the war
in Iraq, there has not been an incident where a volunteer was harmed.
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There have been some proposals to post at least two volunteers to each site or
consolidate groups of volunteers. That would diminish the experience and lessen the
impact of Peace Corps without necessarily enhancing the safety and security of volunteers. Two volunteers posted together tend to be less well integrated and perhaps
less well accepted by the local community. Two volunteers are more likely to be perceived as able to look after each other, thus diminishing the community’s need to
have a stake in their safety and security.
There is also some concern that the resources required to address safety and security concerns may undermine Peace Corps’ unique and vital contributions to U.S.
foreign policy. This is especially the case if adequate funding is not provided to enable Peace Corps to meet the President’s goal of doubling the size of Peace Corps,
which is endorsed by the community.
In addition, the community believes that there is an opportunity to significantly
expand the number of countries where Peace Corps is operating. Doing this would
be extremely beneficial to the national interest. This can be done without jeopardizing volunteer’s safety and security, although it may require that Peace Corps develop a more flexible approach to programming. For example, this may require relying on technical cooperation agreements in lieu of bilateral agreements as in the recent case of Mexico. It may also require somewhat shorter or more flexible assignments, perhaps only a year service or two years service that could be interrupted
for a short period for a home visit.
Doubling the size of Peace Corps and expanding to new countries are goals endorsed by the community. It will require significant new resources, which do not appear to be forthcoming. Thus, any new requirements related to safety and security
that Congress decides to implement must be accompanied by additional financial resources.
Much of the discussion seems to miss the fact that concern with volunteer safety
and security is not new. Recently, I have had the chance to talk with seven of the
Peace Corps Directors, spanning from the first Director to the current Director. For
all of these directors, safety of the volunteers was a critical issue. Over the past few
years, significant new investments have been made to address these issues in the
context of current global realities.
Mr. Chairman, I understand that the Committee is considering legislation to address the issue of volunteer safety and security. I have had a chance to see briefly
a draft of this legislation, which I understand has three main components: 1) make
the Office of Inspector General more independent by having the Inspector General
be a presidential appointment, 2) create an Office of Ombudsman, and 3) establish
statutorily the Office of Safety and Security.
Speaking simply as someone who has served, I would say that:
• Changing the status of the Inspector General is unlikely to have any effect
on volunteer’s safety and security.
• Creating an Office of Ombudsman would be perceived by the Peace Corps
community as being responsive to many former volunteers, especially those
who have been harmed or become ill during their service and not received
promised post-service support. They will perceive that their concerns are
being addressed by a strong, vibrant mechanism advocating for their interests.
• Establishing statutorily the Office of Safety and Security would be a way to
underscore the Congress’s concern with and commitment to ensure the safety
and security of volunteers and a recognition that these issues are a current
reality and will be with us for many decades to come. This Office should be
charged with notifying any volunteer victimized by crime be notified about
the processing of criminal charges.
Recently, I have also heard reports of changes that may affect the Office of Medical Services. The community considers this Office critical to volunteer’s safety and
security and wishes to see that this Office has the resources required and the authority necessary to play its critical role.
It is essential that whatever Congress does to address this issue of volunteer safety and security should not impede the fundamental mission and style of Peace
Corps, which has contributed to its success over the past four decades. Equally important is that whatever Congress does on this issue should not detract from the
vitally important goal of expanding the numbers of serving volunteers and that the
President’s 2005 budget request is met.
Chairman Hyde and Ranking Democratic Member Lantos, the Peace Corps community thanks you for addressing the issue of volunteer safety and security. The
NPCA will work with you and the Committee to ensure that these issues are ad-
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dressed in ways that preserve the essence of the Peace Corps mission and best advance U.S. interests. We will also work relentlessly so that the President’s budget
request can be met, providing many more Americans with the opportunity to serve
their country through the Peace Corps and to bring that experience back to America.
Thank you.
Chairman HYDE. Thank you, Mr. Quigley.
Inspector General Smith?
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE CHARLES D. SMITH,
INSPECTOR GENERAL, THE PEACE CORPS
Mr. SMITH. Mr. Chairman, Members of the Committee, I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today.
My testimony addresses two subjects; the role of the Office of Inspector General in Peace Corps Volunteer safety and security and
the proposed legislation on the Peace Corps IG’s independence.
As the General Accounting Office report makes plain, volunteer
safety and security needs careful and continuing review, and staff
turnover is a major impediment to professional management.
In the new safety and security design, the IG now has principal
responsibility for the agency’s response to violent crimes against
volunteers. With the director’s office and the general counsel, we
developed a protocol about how the agency will respond to violent
crimes against volunteers. It clarified the IG’s responsibility and
authority to assist and coordinate in the prosecution of these
crimes and established a cleaner balance between medical care for
victims and pursuit of justice for victims.
In January 2004, the director reinforced for all overseas offices
and headquarters that this protocol is agency policy. It works in
this way. We receive regular incident reports about both major
crimes against volunteers and crimes of less immediacy that still
carry signals about safety.
When a volunteer is a victim of a violent crime, our investigators
are quickly involved. We are careful, however, not to interfere with
any medical care while we help launch the investigative process.
Overseas and headquarters offices notify us of the incident. We
continue contact with them and at the State Department work with
diplomatic security and the Embassy’s regional security officer.
Through the RSO, we assist in developing the best evidence for
local trial from witness statements to photo spreads to DNA analysis, and as needed we accompany witnesses back for lineups,
depositions and trial.
We consult with the Justice Department’s Office of Foreign Litigation and obtain assistance from the FBI, including the forensic
laboratory at Quantico and the overseas legal attaches, from the
Armed Forces Institute of Pathology at the Walter Reed Army
Medical Center and from the Secret Service Forensic Services Division. In short, we manage and coordinate the agency’s part of the
investigative and prosecution process from the initial incident to
the closing of the case.
In addition to the work of our investigators, our program evaluations and audits have for years included a section on safety and security. Audits focus on post physical and vehicle security. Evaluations concentrate on elements of volunteer safety and security such
as site development, housing, jobs, in-country transportation and
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emergency action plans. Our program and management assessments will continue to include reviews of overseas volunteer safety
and security.
In summary, we consider volunteer safety and security to be a
significant area for our attention. We are part of the Peace Corps,
and the major focus of the Peace Corps is the volunteer. We give
high attention to risks volunteers may face, crimes they may encounter and how the agency protects their safety and security. We
do this in our evaluations and audits and through our work on individual cases.
We assist in investigations and prosecutions and hopefully convictions of criminals who have injured volunteers. Our success
sends a message of deterrence. Volunteers must be respected and
protected.
We also identify places requiring special attention; for example,
a vacation beach area where a volunteer was seriously assaulted,
and in turned out five local women also were attacked. It is now
off limits to volunteers.
Our work has impact case by case through deterrence and commanding respect for volunteers and by identifying situations that
require the attention of the many offices overseas and here within
the agency itself and outside that are part of the system providing
safety and security to volunteers.
Turning to the question of IG independence, I want to distinguish between independence based on one’s ability and relationship
with the director and independence based upon legal and structural
support. I have enjoyed the former, while being troubled about the
latter.
The IG Act places all designated Federal entity IGs—that is the
IGs appointed by agency heads—and their staffs under their agency’s personnel rules. The IG and OIG staff today are, therefore,
subject to Peace Corps Act’s nonrenewal term limits.
Amending the Inspector General Act to make the Peace Corps IG
a Presidential, Senate confirmed appointee, would cure the serious
independence issue that the Peace Corps IG uniquely, among all
IGs, currently faces; periodic, but uncertain, reappointment within
a set, nonrenewal timeframe. This amendment would protect the
IG and OIG staff from the restrictions affecting independence that
are built into the agency’s personnel rules. As in other IG offices,
it would permit the development of a core professional staff, increase sophistication about the agency, work on longer term
projects and greater insight and complexity and analysis.
As an alternative, amending the Peace Corps Act to exempt the
IG and OIG staff positions from time limits on employment would
remove the most immediate statutory impediment to the IG’s independence and his or her hiring, training and retaining the most capable staff.
To close on a personal note, I will reach 81⁄2 years of Peace Corps
employment this August, first as deputy and then as IG. I have
had five extensions under three directors. I have felt no effort to
influence my personnel decisions, and no extension I have sought
for staff has been denied. I do know, however, that in the earlier
history of our office extensions were denied.
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In any case, the Peace Corps Act itself invites and even requires
intrusion through the director’s discretion into the IG’s personnel
decisions and his or her own tenure. Both affect the IG’s independence. Amending the IG Act as proposed would be the most sure resolution of this problem. Amending the Peace Corps Act to lift the
5-year rule from the IG and staff would also resolve the most important structural and legal impediment to independence.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity to testify today.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Smith follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT
OF THE
HONORABLE CHARLES D. SMITH, INSPECTOR GENERAL,
THE PEACE CORPS
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today.
In this written statement, I will address the role of the Office of Inspector General
in Peace Corps Volunteer safety and security and the proposed legislation on the
Peace Corps IG’s independence. As the General Accounting Office report makes
plain, Volunteer safety and security needs careful and continuing review, and staff
turnover in the Peace Corps is a major impediment to professional management.
In the post-9/11 era, the agency has given unambiguous priority to Volunteer safety and security. The Director created the Office of Safety and Security with responsibility for overseas training, data collection and analysis, and physical security here
and overseas. This is the preventative office which will guide the agency’s response
to safety and security issues surrounding Volunteer service.
In addition, the Director appointed a Compliance Officer, who has focused on two
main areas. First is up-to-date emergency action plans. The high quality of this
work became clear when the Peace Corps’ evacuated Volunteers from Cote d’Ivoire,
Morocco, and Haiti. Her second area of attention is IG reports. She receives all our
reports, both preliminary and final, and works with the regions to obtain evidence
that posts have carried out the agreed-upon responses to our recommendations, with
particular attention to safety and security.
In the new safety and security design, the IG now has principal responsibility for
the agency’s response to violent crimes against Volunteers. With the Director’s office
and the General Counsel, we developed the ‘‘Protocol: Violent Crimes Against Volunteers,’’ which clarified the IG’s responsibility and authority to assist and coordinate
in the prosecution of serious crimes against Volunteers. In January 2004, the Director advised all overseas offices and headquarters that the Protocol is agency policy.
We are in regular contact with the Director, the regions, overseas posts, and the
Offices of Safety and Security, Medical Services, Special Services, and General
Counsel, among others. . Compliance is working: we are receiving regular notice of
incident reports, both major crimes—e.g., rape, aggravated assault, robbery—and
crimes of less immediacy—e.g., simple assault, theft, burglary—that still carry important signals about safety. Importantly, the Protocol also establishes a cleaner
balance between medical care for victims and pursuit of justice for victims. The
GAO report noted that ‘‘the Volunteer’s identity and details of the incident may not
be disclosed’’ in cases of sexual assault.1 The new Protocol clarifies, however, that
such fundamental information is needed for law enforcement purposes, and there
are full privacy protections against its disclosure.
When a Volunteer is the victim of a violent crime, our investigators are quickly
involved. We are careful not to interfere with any medical care while we help launch
the investigative process. The country director and headquarters offices notify us of
the incident; we continue contact with them and, at the State Department, work
with Diplomatic Security and the embassy’s RSO; through the RSO, we assist in developing the best evidence for local trial, from witness statements to photo spreads
to DNA analysis; and, as needed, we accompany witnesses back for lineups, depositions, and trial. We consult with the Justice Department’s Office of Foreign Litigation, and obtain assistance from the FBI, including the forensic laboratory at
Quantico and the overseas legal attaches, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and the Secret Service Forensic Services
Division. In short, we manage and coordinate the agency’s part of the investigative
and prosecution process from the initial incident to the closing of the case.
1 United States General Accounting Office, ‘‘Peace Corps: Initiatives for Addressing Safety and
Security Challenges Hold Promise, but Progress Should Be Assessed,’’ July 2002, at p. 45.
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In addition to our investigations of cases, our program evaluations and audits
have for years included a section on safety and security. Audits focus on post physical and vehicle security. Evaluations concentrate on elements of Volunteer safety
and security, such as site development, housing, jobs, in-country transportation, and
emergency action plans. Our program and management assessments will continue
to include reviews of overseas office and Volunteer safety and security. An example
of one safety and security issue is our urging action on monitoring and closing Volunteer hostels, and the agency has issued directives tightening requirements. Another safety and security area we always examine overseas, but have not addressed
formally on an agency-wide basis, is job development. A good job is a central element in Volunteer safety and security, and each of our reports covers jobs and assignments as both a program and safety issue.2
Turning to the question of IG independence, I want to distinguish between independence based on one’s ability and support from the agency’s administration and
independence strengthened by legal and structural support. I have enjoyed the
former while being troubled about the latter.
All three parts of the proposed legislation would impact the work of the Office of
Inspector General, but the first is clearly most important to us.
It would establish the Peace Corps Inspector General as a Presidential, Senateconfirmed appointee by amending the Inspector General Act. This change would directly address the Peace Corps IG’s independence through the appointment and removal power and the term of office for the IG and OIG staff. It would cure the serious independence issue that the Peace Corps IG, uniquely among all IGs, currently
faces: periodic but uncertain reappointment within a set, non-renewable time-frame.
IGs appointed by the President can only be removed by the President, with communication to Congress.3 In Designated Federal Entities,4 IGs are appointed by
agency heads5 and may be removed by them, with Congress being informed after
the fact.6 Since the IG Act does not specify a term of office, removal under this procedure requires action by the agency head. Like other heads of DFE agencies, the
Peace Corps Director may remove the IG at any point under the IG Act.
While the Peace Corps Director exercises the regular DFE appointment and removal authority, the Peace Corps Act—which requires that a term limit on employment be set for all employees—gives him additional appointment and removal flexibility.
In the Peace Corps, appointments do not exceed 30 months, and the employee
may receive a series of reappointments, some as short as a year or even a few
months.7 While 81⁄2 years is the maximum total appointment term under the Peace
Corps Act,8 the IG, like any other Peace Corps employee, faces possible termination
of employment every 30 months or less. This is because Peace Corps policy splits
the five-year limit into half, a first tour of 30 months and a likely but not required
second tour of 30 months.9
Applying the Peace Corps Act’s appointment and removal provisions to the IG can
impact the appearance of IG independence through short, sequential appointments
and can accomplish IG removal simply through appointment expiration. In contrast,
under the IG Act, appointments are unlimited and removals must be reported to
2 See
id. at pp. 15–17.
The Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended, Title 5, Appendix, section 3(a) and (b).
4 Id. Section 8G(a) defines ‘‘federal entity’’ and lists Designated Federal Entities, which include
the Peace Corps.
5 Id. Section 8G(c): ‘‘. . . the Inspector General shall be appointed by the head of the designated Federal entity in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations governing appointments within the designated Federal entity.’’
6 Id. Section 8G(e): ‘‘If an Inspector General is removed from office or is transferred to another
position or location within a designated Federal entity, the head of the designated Federal entity
shall promptly communicate in writing the reasons for any such removal or transfer to both
houses of Congress.’’
7 Each Peace Corps employee receives form SF–50: Notification of Personnel Action, which includes a ‘‘not to exceed’’ date, recording when the appointment will end. An extension is reflected in a new SF–50 by a change in the NTE date.
8 The Peace Corps Act, Section 2506, established parameters for employment. There is a regular tour not to exceed 5 years, and agency policy has split that period into two 21⁄2 year or
30 month tours. The Director is given discretion to extend an employee’s appointment by one
year and by another 21⁄2 years, with both types of extensions exercised under certain criteria.
Extension periods can be shortened or further subdivided. In sum, the outside length of employment is 81⁄2 years, reached through incremental steps. Finally, before a person is eligible to reapply to work at the Peace Corps, they must have been outside for as long as they most recently
were employed: in for 3 years, out for 3 years.
9 On a personal note, I will reach 81⁄2 years of Peace Corps employment this August, and as
Deputy and then IG, I have had five extensions under three Directors.
3 See
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Congress. These same rules apply to OIG staff, and for the first five years, personnel decisions are made by the IG.10 Because OIG staff are Peace Corps employees subject to the ‘‘five-year rule,’’ their extensions require the Director’s approval.
I may hire them for five years—the maximum I can control—but for anyone to work
in the OIG beyond five years, I need the Director’s approval, and there still remains
the 81⁄2 year ceiling.11 In this fashion, the Peace Corps Act injects itself through the
Director’s discretion into the IG’s personnel decisions, and presents an additional
limit on independence.12
Like this bill, DFE IG leadership has focused on IG appointments and has proposed that the IG Act be modified in two ways. One would establish a term limit—
9 years has been suggested since it spans administrations—that is renewable. The
other would permit IG removal only for cause.
The idea of an ombudsman is useful. In some situations, the OIG acts as an ombudsman. Staff or Volunteers come to us seeking the kind of help that we conclude
is best referred to an office in the agency for their attention. Other Peace Corps offices may serve in an ombudsman role, too: for example, General Counsel, American
Diversity/EEO, and Special Services. If establishing an ombudsman office were recommended, the function might, like the Designated Agency Ethics Official, be located in the Office of the General Counsel, with the statute providing necessary special authority, including mandatory access to the Director, and the Director using
his budgetary authority to make it effective.
One concern I have with a statutory Office of Safety and Security is possible impact on agency flexibility. For instance, today that Office is responsible for background checks on U.S. direct hires, traditionally a personnel function. The responsibility for IT security might also be housed elsewhere. The bill places both under the
Office. The most important focus of the Office should be Volunteer safety and security. Anything separate from that should, I would suggest, call for a second look.
Thank you. We would be pleased to provide any further information you need.
Chairman HYDE. Thank you very much, and I might mention,
General Smith, that I share your dislike for silly term limits which
downgrades the priceless value of experience.
Mr. SMITH. Thank you, sir.
Chairman HYDE. Director Vasquez, would you sit at the table?
We will now entertain questions. I would ask the Members to try
to be brief so we can everybody get a chance to ask questions.
Ms. McCollum?
Ms. MCCOLLUM. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
To the Poirier family, I am very sad for the loss of your son, Walter. You should not have been lied to, and you should not have
been treated so insensitively by having your name on a list as it
continued, and for that I apologize.
I had the opportunity to be with Ms. Brooks, director in South
Africa, in which when we visited a Peace Corps site we asked about
safety concerns as there were two women there, one who was just
finishing up her service, a woman who after retirement as a nurse
10 Through the IG Act, DFE employees are subject to the employment rules of their agency.
Section 8G(g)(2) provides: ‘‘In addition to the other authorities specified in this Act, an Inspector
General is authorized to select, appoint, and employ such officers and employees as may be necessary for carrying out the functions, powers, and duties of the Office of Inspector General and
to obtain the temporary or intermittent services of experts or consultants or an organization
thereof, subject to the applicable laws and regulations that govern such selections, appointments, and employment, and the obtaining of such services, within the designated Federal entity.’’ I have made one change from Peace Corps practice. Unlike all other Peace Corps appointments, including the IG, I appoint OIG staff for a five year tour, rather than a 30 month tour
with possible extension.
11 I wish to underscore that, in my experience, there has been no effort to influence my personnel decisions, and no extension I have sought for staff has been denied. I do know, however,
that in the earlier history of our office, extensions were denied.
12 Congress applied the idea of unlimited appointments to the Peace Corps in the 2003 appropriations law, which gave the Director discretion to make unlimited appointments for positions
in the safety and security area, with explicit authority to consider the OIG for this purpose. This
statutory authority was based on a recommendation in the General Accounting Office report on
Peace Corps safety and security.
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volunteered in the Peace Corps, and another individual who was
just coming on, someone younger.
They said one of the most important things to their safety was
integration in the community and following the community norms
and standards, which were different for women than they are here
in the United States.
I also from reading some of the reports, both provided by the government report and in the Dayton News, have found that using
good judgment is very important, but also the use of alcohol was
very much in having the Peace Corps Volunteers be in jeopardy. It
was a major, major factor in many of the stories.
As you mention that you have now realigned into the Peace
Corps and have 80 people, if I understood correctly, working on
safety and security, what more do you think the Peace Corps can
do to make volunteers aware of the consequences of alcohol and the
awareness of how a cross cultural relationship and gender roles
place particularly female volunteers at risk for sexual assault?
Mr. VASQUEZ. Congresswoman, the approach that we have taken
in terms of moving forward relates principally to the kind of training that we have retooled in light of the fact that the majority of
the volunteers serving in the Peace Corps today are women. It was
not always that way, but it is that way today, and the trends indicate that it will continue to be so in terms of the number of applicants and the number of women serving in the Peace Corps.
What we have done is in our training processes in the preservice
training, which I think was some of the discussion that you had
when you were visiting in country, we have retooled some of that
training to heighten the issue of cultural sensitivities. Some of the
traditions and values that we have in this country may not be applicable in a host country where volunteers serve. So we elevate
the awareness in some of the training that some of the issues that
may surface during the course of a Peace Corps Volunteer’s service
can create problems and create challenges.
I do believe that one of the key elements to being successful for
us, whether it is safety and security or it is cultural awareness, is
going to be in the training. We are very, very sensitive to that
great need because we do get the feedback, as you were able to
hear from some volunteers. This is the way things are evolving in
light of a changing world, in light of a changing demographic of
Peace Corps, as we are also experiencing when we talk about older
volunteers who are serving in the Peace Corps, and couples serving
in the Peace Corps.
There are the norms that are different in the host country that
we need to address, and we are trying to do so by virtue of the
training modules that we provide during those 12 weeks of
preservice training and then in-service training.
Ms. MCCOLLUM. Thank you.
Mr. Bruce, I read some of the Dayton Daily News stories and the
accounts of sexual violence, assaults, robberies. They are very
chilling, and it is clear that the Peace Corps as an agency has a
major responsibility to keep volunteers safe.
It is also clear that volunteers also have a responsibility for their
own personal safety and health. After reading your stories, what
responsibility do volunteers have themselves, as the director and I
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were discussing, in alcohol use awareness as in cross cultural sensitivity? What did you find that the personal responsibility of all
the volunteers were in these instances?
Mr. BRUCE. Yes. I think it was very clear that some of the volunteers who ended up being victims of violence of one kind or another
were engaged in unwise or unsafe activities.
I think there is a mixture of issues associated with that, which
includes where they were at the time, and I think one of the issues
that emerged from our reporting were questions about whether or
not there are adequate work in advance before placing of volunteers, whether or not the housing conditions that volunteers arrive
at are adequately checked out in advance and safe, whether or not
their mission and training is sufficient in advance of their arrival
that they do not have a lot of idle time on their hands that ends
up getting misused in activities.
Ms. MCCOLLUM. I understand that, but it is a mutual responsibility.
Mr. BRUCE. No question about it.
Ms. MCCOLLUM. Mr. Chair, I just want to say that the world is
a changing place, and it is a very dangerous place. The Peace
Corps is needed more than ever, and we need to make sure that
we give the Peace Corps the tools so the director can make the experience a safe and secure one.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Chairman HYDE. The gentleman from California, Mr. Royce?
Mr. ROYCE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I have had the opportunity, Director Vasquez, to meet with a
number of Peace Corps Volunteers in Africa over the years, but
even on short trips, and one comes to mind in Nigeria, we saw the
risks that overseas development workers take.
During a period of time in 1999 when myself and Secretary Powell were in Nigeria as election monitors. There was another team
that former President Carter was with—two members of that team
were robbed at gunpoint. This is the type of risk that Peace Corps
Volunteers are inherently in in many of these difficult places, many
of these remote locales where they try to do their work.
Africa, unfortunately, sees a great deal of civil strife, and civil
conflict there can evolve very, very rapidly. You had to pull volunteers out of Madagascar and out of Cote d’Ivoire, and I talked with
those volunteers in Africa about their experiences there.
How often have Peace Corps Volunteers been evacuated, and
what happens in an emergency situation like this, and what is the
decision process to return them back into the country?
Mr. VASQUEZ. Congressman, the process of risk management for
us is ongoing and is constant. Part of that is being vigilant, monitoring developments in countries, and I would use Haiti as a recent
example, the most recent evacuation. Cote d’Ivoire was another example. Madagascar was the first evacuation that occurred during
my time here at the Peace Corps.
We monitor activities as they begin to surface in country. We
work with the Embassy, with the regional security officer, with our
own safety and security personnel, and with the country director.
The country team begins to discuss scenarios and issues that start
to develop.
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I would prefer to not go into much intricate detail because I
think that that is information that we would like to reserve so that
it is kept confidential, but, generally speaking, what we do is assess the situation.
We evaluate the conditions and circumstances, and essentially
for me as the director and as a person who makes the ultimate decision, my test is that when volunteers’ work is disrupted or interrupted to the extent that they can no longer do their work, then
it is time to evaluate the possibility of consolidation of volunteers
to a certain location and ultimately to evacuate. If an evacuation
occurs, we deploy the kind of resources, whether it is aircraft or it
is landcraft, whatever we need to do to get those volunteers out of
country.
Once we have suspended or evacuated, rather, a program, we
make a decision about suspending, closing a program, and we go
through a process of internal discussions, as well as talking to
staff, talking to the chief of mission in that host country.
If we decide that we are going to consider going back, we do a
full assessment of the country as if we were entering the country
for the first time. We evaluate medical, security, operational, programmatic issues, and support of host government.
All of those processes are evaluated, and then ultimately a recommendation is made to me, and a decision is made about returning to a country.
Mr. ROYCE. Let me also ask you. In light of this post 9/11 world,
what changes have you made in the Peace Corps since your arrival
specifically to enhance volunteer safety?
You mentioned the increase by 80 of safety and security staff and
the reorganization of that staff to better communicate and better
monitor volunteers. What is the daily role of these new safety and
security staff personnel, and could you maybe tell us how they
monitor volunteers in-country?
Mr. VASQUEZ. First of all, the field based staff that I talked
about, which is about 95 percent of those new employees who are
involved in safety and security, include a safety and security coordinator at every post in Peace Corps.
The responsibility of that safety and security coordinator is to ensure that forms, locator forms, documents that need to be filed by
volunteers, measures that need to be met by posts, arrive in a
timely and compliant fashion. This is so that there are no glitches
in the timetables for accountability on the locator forms for volunteers, accountability on complying with issues relative to the GAO
reports that have been done. The Inspector General works with the
country director to ensure that we are responding to those safety
and security issues.
In addition to that, the country director, who is not a new employee, but we have one in every country, is the ultimate person
who is accountable at post for safety and security in country.
We have added additional regional safety and security officers
who cover regions of the world and supplement and support the
safety and security coordinators. They have regions in the world
that they cover. We have nine, and we intend to expand that next
year by adding another three regional safety and security officers.
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We have designated at headquarters an associate director for
safety and security who reports to me. That is a first at Peace
Corps. We have now a person fully dedicated, a research psychologist, who now looks at our data in terms of crime statistics and
trends to identify, analyze, evaluate and make recommendations on
where we may need to change practices, policies and procedures in
order to enhance safety and security.
So it takes on many layers of responsibility, but the bulk of the
deployment of personnel in these new slots that we have implemented are in the field.
Chairman HYDE. The gentlelady from California, Ms.
Napolitano?
Ms. NAPOLITANO. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
It is good to see you, Mr. Vasquez. I was not here to hear your
presentation. I apologize.
In listening to the testimony, and again my condolences to the
family and other families who have lost volunteers, my question in
listening to and reading some of the testimony is the fact that
about 70 percent of your volunteers are now women. I guess maybe
I want to gear my comments to that.
There is an increase. How is this affecting your program? How
are you dealing? How are you promoting special training for them
in safety and in cultural differences in several of those areas?
According to what I am reading, the Dayton Daily News suggests
that they are sent abroad and do not receive proper training, and
there is little or no supervision. To me, if you are supposedly giving
them proper training how is that training being given, to whom
and in what amount geared to the country they are going to?
Mr. VASQUEZ. Well, first of all, I think it is important to mention
that the procedures that we use today in terms of safety and security and the discussion about safety and security begins when the
applicant meets up with the recruiter.
Our recruiters in our 11 offices across the country realize that
safety and security is a major issue. Consequently, the discussion
about the risks of safety and security, whether it is a man or
woman volunteer, young-, old-, or middle-aged couples, begins at a
very early stage.
That is followed up then, by the time a potential volunteer who
then becomes a nominee goes to their staging here in the United
States for 21⁄2 days. We have added time within that training
phase to talk about safety and security, with emphasis obviously on
women because there is this increased percentage of women volunteers, so that is part of the training.
Once the volunteer gets to the country in which he or she is
going to serve, there is a 12 week training program during which
again safety and security is emphasized, up to and including having to meet certain core competencies in order to be able to complete the 12 week training program.
Within that training program there is discussion about cultural
sensitivities, about some of the higher sensitivities that women
may have to have because of cross cultural issues, because of society’s norms in the country in which they are going to serve, personal safety, personal management of safety, certain areas about
public transportation, about housing, about the kinds of things that
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that country in particular has experienced as opposed to just a
boilerplate, across-the-board training module. It is about the country in which they are going to serve.
Consequently, once the volunteer completes that 12 week training program, they are sworn in as volunteers. During the course
of time additional in-service training opportunities are provided,
and there are mentors, and volunteer leaders, who also provide
guidance to women volunteers where necessary and appropriate.
Chairman HYDE. Ms. Napolitano, I am going to trespass on your
time. I expect a vote any second. May I ask Mr. Weller if he has
a question?
Ms. NAPOLITANO. If I have the ability to come back because I
have one other question to ask.
Chairman HYDE. We will come back if we have time.
Mr. Weller, briefly please.
Mr. WELLER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the courtesy of my friend and colleague from California for the opportunity.
Mr. Poirier, for both you and Mrs. Poirier, my heart goes out to
you. Peace Corps has tremendous support in this country and this
Congress with President Bush, and your son clearly was demonstrating his love of our country, as well as his commitment to
service. We are very saddened by the loss of your son, and we
thank you for his commitment to our country and for the world.
Director, I realize the challenge for you is these were challenges,
many of which you inherited, and you have been working to respond to them. Just walk me through the process. If a volunteer
is a victim of an attack, what are the steps that are taken? If you
could just share with us the steps that are taken?
You know, I think we all realize there are people in the world
hostile to America, hostile to our interests, who recognize the good
will that is created as a result of the work of volunteers in the
Peace Corps, so perhaps by harassing and intimidating they discourage them from being there and reduce the good impression we
make, particularly in the hearts and minds of others around the
world.
What are the steps that are taken? What is the role of the victim
in dealing perhaps if the attackers are apprehended in their prosecution? Can you just walk us through that process?
Mr. VASQUEZ. Well, Congressman, what happens is that a volunteer reports a crime, and they are all reportable, but obviously
there are varying degrees depending on the kind of crime it is.
Assuming it is a reportable crime, it may involve, and there are
variations on this, but it may involve a report to local law enforcement to engage local law enforcement in terms of reporting. It is
also reported to the Peace Corps medical officer in-country who
then fills out and completes a report depending on the nature of
the crime against the volunteer.
The country director is notified and gets involved. If it is a crime
that involves a situation of an active pursuit, where it demands immediate attention, the regional security officer from the mission
may be involved. The Embassy may be involved. Resources may be
deployed where necessary on the guidance of the regional security
officer.
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Under our new protocol, the Inspector General’s Office is notified.
The Inspector General then makes an evaluation of the kinds of resources that he needs to deploy. The communication is established
between the IG, the regional security officer, and the country staff,
and resources are deployed in accordance with the seriousness of
the crime and the situation and the circumstances. Then the appropriate people are used for both the investigation and subsequently,
with the Inspector General, the prosecution and administration of
justice that takes place in that country.
This new protocol I believe is going to serve us quite well because
it is going to be part of a more diligent process. But it is also going
to provide a tracking process so that volunteers who are victimized
are provided the kind of support and resources that they need,
given the variation of legal systems that are applied throughout
the world. That is a brief snapshot.
Mr. WELLER. Director, just a quick followup. Technology is getting better, particularly in areas of communication all around the
world. There are more cell phones every time I travel anywhere
than I have ever seen before, so there is wireless capability.
I was wondering. What are you doing in that area? As part of
that question also, are you reconsidering the policy of sending volunteers out by themselves?
Mr. VASQUEZ. First of all, we use communication technology
based on the country and the reliability of the communication system. In some cases, cellular phones are used. In some countries, 90
plus percent of the volunteers have cellular phones. In other cases
it is not reliable, and in other places it is nonexistent.
Whether there are cell phones or no cell phones, what we try to
do is build layers of communication mechanisms so that it is not
just about cell phones. If the system goes down for whatever reason, we need to have a backup system. We build that system within a community where a volunteer is placed, whether it is local law
enforcement or the partner organization with whom the volunteer
works or is assigned to, but we build an infrastructure for notification.
We have instances where host families have called because a volunteer has been ill, has been needed to be transported, so the communication systems are multi-layered.
I think that as far as the issue of co-locating or someone referred
to clustering volunteers, I think as Mr. Quigley has accurately remarked, that putting two volunteers or multiple volunteers in one
location can, one, be a potential security risk. It can also be a distraction and a disruption to the kind of work that volunteers
should be doing as volunteers because, for over 43 years, one of the
core values of Peace Corps service has been integration into the
community.
That is really the basis of the interaction, the promotion of crosscultural understanding, the integration into the community, building the kinds of relationships that make for a successful and fulfilling experience for Peace Corps Volunteers. I think that at this
juncture, the models that have been used for Peace Corps are, I
think, effective. I think they have been successful.
I also need to add that there has been a perception created by
some that volunteers are just sent out to some rural location and
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left to be by themselves. That is not true. The fact of the matter
is that before a volunteer goes out to site there are discussions with
partner organizations, with the community where that volunteer is
going to be serving, and there are also volunteers within reasonable proximity.
We have done surveys to test the time and the distance that volunteers have between each other and the frequency with which volunteers see each other, not to mention staff.
Chairman HYDE. I am going to have to interrupt.
Mr. VASQUEZ. Thank you.
Chairman HYDE. Mr. Weller’s time has expired. We have to go
over and vote. There are four votes pending, so I am going to adjourn the Committee.
I would very much like Mr. Bruce and Mr. Ford to comment in
writing if you can at your convenience on the corrective measures
that Director Vasquez has introduced as to their adequacy and
what remains to be done so we can move this along, if anything.
I am very pleased at Director Vasquez’s testimony.
This has been a wonderful panel. It has been instructive. We
know a lot more than we knew before we started, and we are going
to pursue this so that we can end up being helpful to the Peace
Corps and to our country.
I apologize, Mr. Farr, for not getting to you. As we fade into the
distance, you are welcome to take over.
Mr. FARR. Thank you very much. I know that we are rushed.
Mr. Poirier, I came here for you. I am a returned Peace Corps
Volunteer. I served in Colombia where Mr. Crozier and Mr. Radley,
the first volunteers ever killed, died in an airplane accident.
I am here because I also experienced a horrible tragedy while
serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer. After my mother died of cancer
in the United States, my sister and father came to visit me in Colombia. My sister was a junior in high school on summer vacation,
she was only 16 years old. My sister, my father and I went horseback riding. My sister was thrown from a horse and we took her
to a rural hospital, and they said nothing was wrong. A day later
she died. She died because the hospital just did not have the equipment to diagnose her problem.
I was very angry. I was sort of angry at Colombia where I was
a Peace Corps Volunteer. I was sort of angry at life, angry at God
and religion. I was pretty depressed. One day, though, I just realized that that is why I was in the Peace Corps, to try to improve
the situation so that people would have access to health care and
other services. That aspiration, to make a difference, is what eventually drove me into politics.
I am here today because I really want to urge the Committee not
to change the nature of the Peace Corps and not to create a ‘‘fortress America’’ Peace Corps Volunteer. That would destroy the nature of the Peace Corps.
The most interesting comment that I have heard in all the years
that I have been in Congress, was spoken by General Abizaid last
week. General Abizaid is the General for all of CENTCOM, which
covers parts of Africa and all of the Middle East. There are 270
people serving under him.
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He said something very profound to the Appropriations Committee on military construction. He said that until the United
States learns to cross the cultural divide, we will never have peace
in this world.
The only successful way we are learning to cross the cultural divide, the only really successful way, is through Peace Corps Volunteers because they do go to countries throughout the world, and
they do take risks. I am concerned for their safety, but I think that
with good training, and with good site placement, and if we address
the issues that Director Vasquez has talked about, we can improve
security for volunteers.
I strongly urge this Committee not to overreact and try to create
more of a bureaucracy, more rules, more regulations that are going
to hinder or keep volunteers from reporting incidents. Try to preserve that initial spirit of Peace Corps that has served us so well.
What is so fascinating about the Peace Corps is the demand to
go in the Peace Corps has always been high, and I think it is now
at an all-time high. The demand from other countries to have
Peace Corps Volunteers is also at an all-time high.
We are doing something right, and the only thing that stands in
the way is whether Congress is going to appropriate enough money
and enough resources to get the job done.
This Committee passed the bill that authorized doubling the size
of Peace Corps, and I urge you that we follow through with this
commitment. If you have to make some administrative changes so
be it, but not so that it hinders the role of work of the volunteer
in the field.
Thank you for allowing me to sit in. Mr. Poirier, I am very, very
sorry about the loss of your son.
Mr. ROYCE [presiding]. We thank the gentleman from California.
We also want to express our deep appreciation and admiration
for all that members of the Peace Corps and their families have
done. We also want to thank you all for traveling to testify here
today, for your input. We again appreciate that.
At this time, this hearing stands adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 12:15 p.m. the Committee was adjourned.]
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APPENDIX
MATERIAL SUBMITTED
FOR THE
HEARING RECORD
MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD BY THE HONORABLE TOM LANTOS,
REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
A
H.R. 4060
Mr. Chairman, I first want to thank you for your strong interest in the Peace
Corps, its nearly 8,000 volunteers, and the larger Peace Corps community. The
thoughtful attention that this Committee had lent to the Peace Corps Expansion Act
of 2003 continued last week during our Full Committee hearing on safety and security issues within the Peace Corps, and is evident in today’s consideration of this
bill.
As you know, Mr. Chairman, last year’s Peace Corps Expansion Act authorized
appropriations for the Peace Corps for five years and developed at least three fundamental elements for ensuring that the doubling of the Peace Corps is focused properly.
Mr. Chairman, while these accomplishments are significant—and a testament to
the ability of this Committee to influence positively an agency’s operations even
without an enacted Peace Corps reauthorization—much more can be done to improve the health, safety, and security of Peace Corps volunteers, as our hearing last
week demonstrated.
According to the representative from the General Accounting Office, the Peace
Corps is still not capturing fully the extent of crime against volunteers due to
under-reporting by the volunteers themselves for a host of reasons, including a belief that the agency lacks the capacity or willingness to help.
The GAO and the other witnesses also testified that the lack of well developed
assignments discourage volunteers from adequately immersing themselves in their
host communities and thereby benefiting from the protections afforded to members
of these villages and towns.
Finally, the witnesses noted that administrative impediments, such as limitations
on terms of employment within the Peace Corps and worrisome changes within the
Office of Medical Services, constrain Peace Corps employees from providing the best
support possible to volunteers.
Mr. Chairman, the bill that we are considering today addresses these issues by
establishing an Ombudsman within the agency to listen and attend to volunteer and
employee concerns, by increasing the independence of the Inspector General of the
Peace Corps to strengthen his ability to act as watchdog on behalf of volunteers,
by requiring the agency to study and report to us on how it can improve programming for volunteers, and lastly by lifting the term limits for key offices within the
agency.
I strongly support all of these provisions.
Mr. Chairman, we must not lose sight of the fact that Peace Corps volunteers for
over forty years have been doing an extraordinary job as our development ambassadors to the most remote corners of this earth. And they have been doing their jobs
under difficult and, at times, risky conditions—although not riskier than working
in many urban settings in this country, including Dayton, Ohio.
As we consider measures to improve the health, safety, and security of our volunteers, we must be careful not to forge impenetrable shields around our volunteers
which will make it harder for them to reach the young English student in
Kazakhstan or the women’s cooperative in Peru, or they the volunteers.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
(63)
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PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE NICK SMITH, A REPRESENTATIVE
CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MICHIGAN
IN
I want to thank Chairman Hyde for holding this hearing today on the safety and
security of our Peace Corps volunteers. This is a difficult but important topic. I look
forward to hearing our witness’s testimony.
The Peace Corps represents a great tradition of American volunteerism and charity. Ed Sharkey, in my Jackson District office served from 1979 to 1981 in the
Yemen Arab Republic. He said ‘‘Peace Corps workers go out into the world, work
on behalf of others, and share our values. When Americans volunteer abroad, they
have been among our most successful public diplomats. If the Peace Corps is to continue to achieve its mission, it must be better prepared to face the challenges of
today.’’ Ed suggested a visit to the website for fellow Peace Corps Volunteers brings
home the real challenges that these American volunteers face today. He encouraged
passage of Chairman Hyde’s legislation.
At home, we have begun to respond to threats to our homeland. We must also
prepare our Peace Corps volunteers to respond when they are abroad. The Peace
Corps will have to train its volunteers to deal with the reality of violence in the
field. The Peace Corps must also be reorganized to face today’s security challenge.
Like all of our agencies, it must be more flexible, more efficient, and more aware
of the context in which it operates.
Again, I would like to thank the Chairman for holding this hearing today. Many
of the stories that we will hear about the Peace Corps are tragic. However, it is because of these tragedies that we must act to improve and make changes to this organization.
PREPARED STATEMENT
IN
OF THE HONORABLE EARL BLUMENAUER,
CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF OREGON
A
REPRESENTATIVE
The Peace Corps is a critical part of American diplomacy. I hope that this hearing,
in addition to helping ensure the safety and security of Peace Corps volunteers,
draws attention to the great work done by the Peace Corps program and its thousands of volunteers each year. As I visit other countries, I am continually and deeply impressed by the commitment and contributions of Peace Corps volunteers of all
ages.
The Peace Corps provides the opportunity to large numbers of Americans, both
young and old, to serve their country as ambassadors of peace, understanding, and
goodwill. This is in addition to the very important and concrete work that Peace
Corps volunteers do to assist people through development and education projects,
as well as build cross-cultural bridges between the United States and diverse other
societies. I believe that it is a profound statement about our American ideals that
we provide the opportunity for those who choose to serve their country to do so by
assisting others.
This is a program that richly deserves continued funding and attention from Congress. I thank the Peace Corps volunteers and alumni for their service and I thank
the Committee for its work to keep them safe and secure.
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